The wings to fly towards the future
by Shardwing52
Summary: Masaya has returned to FC, but Mashiro has a favor to ask. Where will this event lead the two? Furthermore who is this mysterious boy who challenges Mashiro, and his motives?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know there's a VN, but I'm going off of the anime version, not the source material. Just so you know, the anime chopped out all romance with Masaya, so don't get the wrong idea. I'm simply adding in romance in this story since the first season didn't have any.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

Masaya was training the three girls like usual. He'd just returned to FC entirely, having regained his passion for it. As a prodigy, he still had moves up his sleeve he hadn't used the first time he was back in action. The three girls were impressed by his skills, and Asuka was ecstatic at how great he was. Right now though, Misaki had fully mastered flying without balancers. Mashiro on the other hand has not had the same result.

"A-aaagh!" Mashiro yelled as she tried to balance herself.

"Calm down! Put more weight and try to balance yourself!" Masaya commanded.

"That's impossible!" Mashiro yelled as she started flying toward the sea, but Masaya flew down and caught her.

"Boy boy," Misaki said exasperatedly.

"Mashiro," Asuka said worried.

But they were in practice so the two kept going.

'It's just like before, I'm unable to keep up with them!' Mashiro thought feeling helpless.

"That was a good effort," Masaya said gently. "Let's try again tomorrow."

Mashiro didn't respond, but felt down. Later after the others left, Masaya sat in the trailer looking over the results of their practice. Just then the door opened, revealing Mashiro.

"Mashiro? What are you still doing here?" Masaya said taking his eyes off the notes.

"Well, teach me how to fly without the balancers!" Mashiro said as she bowed. "I really, really want to get better, but I, I-"

"I understand," Masaya said walking over to her.

"Thank you!" Mashiro said happily, to which Masaya smiled back.

'This is just like when I begged Kagami-sensei to be taught her moves.' Masaya thought.

Mashiro didn't want to ask Rika each time she had an issue. Rika had her own matters to deal with and went to a different school, so this time she asked her coach.

After they walked out and Masaya put on his FC gear, he spoke up.

"Mashiro," Masaya started. "I noticed when we practice, your body weight is lighter than Asuka and Misaki. That makes it a lot harder for you to get a proper balance with no balancers. But I have a solution."

"A solution?" Mashiro asked with interest.

Without reply, Masaya grabbed Mashiro's hand, turned on his Grav-Shoes and flew with her. He then put an arm around her back and pressed her next to him.

"W-wait, what are you-" Mashiro started, flustered by the action.

"You can't fly with balancers off yet, so I'm going to turn off mine," Masaya said. "After that, I want you to stay in my arms and fly with me."

"But what if you slip and I lose control!?" Mashiro panicked.

"Don't worry," Masaya said gently. "I won't let go of you, I promise."

Mashiro stared at him for a few moments in surprise, but then nodded. She turned on her own Grav-Shoes while Masaya turned off his own balancers on his Grav-Shoes. She was the one who couldn't get decent control in that state, so she put her Grav-Shoes on normal. As they flew Mashiro noted how different this was from when she does it. He was perfectly in control, no unbalance at all. She remembered how he was a prodigy since a kid according to Shindou, and he certainly proved that when he fought Asuka at the time. In no time flat, he quickly mastered his balancers off like Asuka, and then Misaki followed suite.

"This is awesome!" Mashiro said in awe as they flew together.

"You can do it too with some practice," Masaya said smiling.

Later on after they were through, the two flew home together.

"How come you didn't play FC with us from the start?" Mashiro put the question. "You would have been a great help, and even beat Shindou probably."

"...It's because I had given up on FC long ago before that," Masaya started in a more serious voice.

"Huh?" Mashiro said in surprise.

So he explained his past. "As a child I was called a genius, a prodigy," Masaya said. "But one day I got chosen to represent Japan, and I got cold feet. Things got worse from there, as I lost to a beginner. Never had I felt so worthless as an FC player. I was so consumed in despair that I quit FC altogether."

Mashiro had no idea he shouldered that kind of burden.

"But, I've learned ever since you guys played," Masaya said. "Some things are just too much fun to run away from. You guys helped me regain the passion to start playing again."

"So that's why you started playing again," Mashiro said gently.

"Yeah," Masaya said as he formed a smile. "That's why I understand how you feel. Feeling like you're not good enough, I was there before. That's why I want to do everything I can to help you."

"...Masaya," Mashiro said touched.

Eventually, they split up for their respective homes after saying goodbye. Just before that Mashiro requested something of Masaya earlier in the next morning, to which he was fine with it. After getting home, Masaya yawned and made his way into bed, needing his rest. Meanwhile Mashiro went home and got a good rest for the morning, but not before having a 'conversation' with her pillow about hyping her up for training.

The following morning, Asuka and Misaki got up early due to wanting to have some practice before school. After getting to the usual practice location, they noticed Madoka observing upwards. Following her direction, they saw Mashiro and Masaya practicing.

"That's the way, improve your stamina! You need that to maintain balance when you do fly without the balancers!" Masaya stated.

"Yes!" Mashiro responded as she followed his orders.

"She's getting better," Misaki noted.

"They were already here when I got here," Madoka said.

"Really?" Asuka asked.

As they watched, they noticed how the two were having fun. Masaya then had her use her strength as a speeder to keep up with his movements. After they were done, Masaya spoke up.

"Yes, we'll stop there," Masaya said. "We'll practice again after school."

"Right!" Mashiro responded.

After the two landed down together, Madoka spoke up.

"Why were you two here so early?" Madoka asked, with a subtle amuse to her voice.

"I asked him to," Mashiro told her.

"Why?" Misaki asked.

"She still needs to improve before she turns off the balancers, so I'm training her," Masaya clarified.

"Hmm, didn't you say something about wanting to help me?" Mashiro teased, making him near lose his composure.

"Hey!" Masaya said calmly with slight red cheeks, feeling embarrassed about her bringing up personal talk in front of others.

Mashiro grinned and then grabbed him by the hand. "C'mon, we still have time to eat," Mashiro said.

"Yeah yeah," Masaya sighed.

The others watched them leave. "She seems more friendly with him than usual," Madoka said as an amused look crossed her face.

"I wonder what they talked about yesterday," Asuka wondered.

"Dunno," Misaki said.

Just before class started, Mashiro greeted Misaki, or as she called her 'Misaki-senpai'. Masaya was use to this, as it was too usual, and Misaki is just in a whatever mood in the morning due to her suger levels. But before she left she waved goodbye to Masaya, to which he waved back as a response.

"Hey, how's she doing?" Asuka asked him.

"She's getting a little better," Masaya said. "But it's going to take a while."

"Well, you're training her so I'm sure it'll work out," Misaki said.

Masaya didn't reply, as he thought about Mashiro. After school, Masaya and co headed for more practice. Masaya put his attention exclusively on Mashiro, as he was the one training her, and the others were perfectly fine on their own without the balancers. He had noticed she wasn't doing well when he returned to FC and practiced with them, but he was so busy with helping Misaki at the time who was utterly determined to fly without the balancer limitation.

"Alright, just like before, try and keep up with me," Masaya said. "This time I'm going to be more quick."

"Yes!" Mashiro responded.

The two flew straight, and Masaya made many fancy turns and spins, which while at first threw Mashiro off, she was able to eventually start getting more consistent with him and quickly time her reflexes. Masaya then had her try to score a point on him, which she was not able to touch him.

"As expected, he's strong!" Mashiro noted. "But I can't give up here!"

With renewed determination, Mashiro eventually managed to do a fake out and hit him in the back, scoring a point. Masaya then in retaliation scored multiple points effortlessly.

"Next I want you to try scoring a point on a buoy while attempting to avoid a dogfight with me," Masaya commanded.

"Roger!" Mashio responded.

She attempted to avoid him, but Masaya quickly blocked her with ease. As this continued it was proving hard to avoid him.

"If you feel cornered, give up on the battle and take a shortcut," Masaya said. "As you know, some players will try to start a dogfight with you to score points that way. Another method is you can try to fly past them to the current buoy in a split second they're off-guard, but you have to have perfect timing, otherwise they will manage to hit you before you make it past them."

Mashiro nodded, heading his advice.

After a while, both stopped, getting a bit tired.

"Good, let's stop there today," Masaya said just before his face turned into a panicked one. "Hey wait a minute!"

Mashiro, feeling she was good enough turned off her balancers. However, she immediately regretted it.

"Yaaaaa!" Mashiro yelled as she plummeted down.

She was falling fast, but Masaya caught her and quickly turned the balancers on.

"That was too reckless!" Masaya said exasperatedly.

"And I thought I could do it," Mashiro said teary, and then her cheeks became slightly red as she yanked her hand away from him. "How long are you going to hold my hand!?"

"I was worried about you!" Masaya said, a bit incensed at her. "You could have gotten hurt!"

Mashiro's pseudo flustered angry expression changed to a guilty one.

"Sorry," Mashiro said averting his gaze.

"Listen, don't do that again until I say so, okay?" Masaya asked, lowering his voice to a gentle one.

"I got it," Mashiro conceded.

"Hmm, he wasn't like this when he trained me," Misaki said with her arms crossed. "Something seems different about him."

"It's spirit!" Madoka's brother said.

"Hey onii-chan!" Madoka said in annoyance.

"I don't get it," Asuka said.

Later, the co ate at a restaurant.

"You guys worked hard," Madoka said, looking at Masaya and Mashiro.

"Good grief, to think she faked me out to get a point," Masaya said casually.

"Right, Masaya didn't take kindly to that and retaliated full force," Misaki said.

"Couldn't you have been gentler?" Mashiro pouted.

"Yeah yeah," Masaya said uncaring as the others laughed at them.

"Tehee, Mashiro was like a cat after her mate," Madoka teased.

Mashiro's face lit red at what she suggested. "W-wait a minute!" Mashiro said as Madoka grinned.

"And you Masaya, you seemed to be having a blast with her," Misaki said with a smile. "A lot more than you were with me."

Masaya didn't respond, but for some reason he felt nervous and unable to speak. "I'm just training her," Masaya was able to get out.

His delayed reaction didn't go unnoticed by Misaki, but she said nothing.

"Anyway, this food is delicious!" Asuka said as she ate.

Masaya and Mashiro inwardly had sighs of relief at Asuka's timing. And so the conversation went to more casual ones. Masaya went home after saying goodbye to the others while Mashiro went to her own place. As Mashiro was flying home, she spoke.

"Another day of training complete!" Mashiro proclaimed triumphantly. 'But I still couldn't use the balancers turned off, and I made Masaya-senpai worry over me, and he's the one making the effort to train me because he wants to. I have to do my best so as to not put his efforts to waste. Isn't that right, Masaya?'

Mashiro smiled at the last part.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

The following morning, Mashiro went over to Masaya's home and knocked.

"Hello, Masaya-senpai," Mashiro called out as she knocked on the door.

Seeing he hadn't answered, she stated she was coming in. Opening the door she went in and still had yet to see him. But on hearing noise from the bedroom she headed there.

"What are you doing?" She asked walking in without asking, but then froze.

Masaya was completely naked and looked like he was about to put on underwear. It took both a few moments to register what was going on, but once they did, Masaya reacted.

"M-Mashiro!" Masaya stuttered off-guard.

Mashiro's face went completely red. "Aaaaaaagh!" She yelled in embarrassment.

"Calm down!" Masaya panicked as their yelling made Rika wonder what was going on at his place even though they've never really talked.

After Masaya got dressed, he went to the living room were Mashiro was. Upon seeing him she turned the other way as she blushed. Masaya felt awkward himself, even though she was at fault.

"Um, shall we go?" Masaya said awkwardly with sweat.

"Y-yeah!" Mashiro said.

After they left and flew to their FC practice, the two were totally silent. Masaya felt awkward about what happened, but he knew whatever he felt was nothing compared to Mashiro. He didn't want to bring the subject up out of consideration, so he kept quiet. Still he was worried about the girl.

As Mashiro caught him staring at her, she reacted. "W-what!" She yelped. "Stop staring at me with leecherous eyes, pervert pervert!"

Masaya was trying hard to not burst out laughing. It was too obvious she was saying that to try avoiding the possible subject.

"Says the girl who peeped on me while I was changing," Masaya retorted trying to sound uncaring.

Mashiro's face lit red. "W-well you didn't respond when I knocked!" Mashiro fumbled.

"So you think that means you can just barge in?" Masaya asked with a tease to his voice.

Mashiro looked away blushing. Now she was a pervert or, to be precise, she was the pervert.

"Don't worry, I forgive you, just knock on all doors before you go through said door," Masaya said with a smile.

Mashiro nodded, and the subject dropped. After getting to their training, they begun practice.

"Pay attention! This is a move that can help you use a person's momentum when they try to touch your back, and hit theirs instead!" Masaya coached.

As he did it, he glanced at the others and noticed Mashiro trying hard to not avert his gaze as she blushed. This made Masaya feel awkward, but he quickly composed himself. Of course Misaki didn't miss this reaction from him, and turned to Mashiro whom was blushing. Just what happened between them she wondered. After he went back to them and landed, Madoka's brother grabbed him in a playful headlock.

"As expected of you!" her brother yelled in his usual hype while Madoka laughed nervously at his usual over the top actions.

"That was great Coach!" Asuka said as she neared him with admiration.

"You think so?" Masaya asked while being in a headlock still.

"Yeah, that was plenty of spirit!" Madoka's brother exclaimed.

The other's sweat dropped as Asuka joined in agreement with him saying Spirit. Those two really were similar in ways, which was a scary thought.

"Well with this we can use our opponents own chance against them, right Mashiro? Mashiro?" Misaki asked facing the twin tails girl who seemed zoned out.

"Y-yeah, that's right!" Mashiro yelped as her focus shifted off Masaya.

"You know, you have been staring at Masaya a lot," Madoka teased as Mashiro blushed from that.

Mashiro would say something, but couldn't muster any words as her cheeks steamed and she fainted. When she woke up, she and the other girls were in the trailer.

"This is..." Mashiro said getting up as Madoka flashed an interrogating light on her. "W-what!? Are you treating me as a criminal!?"

Madoka grinned greatly. "Question one, why are you staring at Masaya so much?" Madoka asked in a proffesional voice.

Mashiro was hesitant to say it, but with Masaya not around it was certainly a lot more comfortable to talk about it. After a few moments she mustered up her courage and confessed to what happened earlier in the morning.

"EHHHHH!?" The other girls yelled afterwards.

"You saw Masaya naked!?" Misaki exclaimed with surprise.

Mashiro weakily nodded as she avoided their gaze with red cheeks.

"You did walk in his house without permission, opened the door to his room without permission, and saw him naked," Madoka said and then grinned. "Pervert!"

"Hey!" Mashiro protested. "It's not my fault I got no answer!"

"Teehee, you must have really wanted to see him without his clothes," Madoka teased her.

"B-b-b-BAKAAAAAAAA!" Mashiro yelled in embarrassment, making Madoka cover her ears.

"Hmm, I can see why things would be awkward between you two," Misaki reasoned. "But he was really worried about you when you passed out you know."

"Eh?" Mashiro asked.

"When you fainted the first thing he did was run over to you in concern and held you in his arms," Misaki said matter of factly. "He cares a lot for you. I don't think I've ever seen him this close to the rest of us. But since he started training you, he seems to really have grown fond of you. So try not to cause him worry, okay?"

"Mmm," Mashiro said looking down with guilt.

Later Masaya was standing looking at the ocean by himself, while in his normal clothes.

"There you are!" Mashiro called out in her normal clothes as she flew down next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I like to watch the sea sometimes, it gives me this sense of calmness," Masaya said. "Just like back then."

"Back then?" Mashiro wondered.

"When I was a child and trained with Kagami-sensei, we would watch the moon with the sea at night," Masaya said. "The amount of stars we counted I can't even recall. I felt nostalgic, so I'm doing just that. So what are you doing here?"

"I just came to find Masaya-senpai," Mashiro said. "And to also hang out. You usually just coach us, but we've really never bonded. Even before Asuka-senpai came along, you didn't really do much with us."

"True," Masaya said in agreement. "Maybe I was still depressed about quitting FC that I pushed you guys away. Sorry."

"Don't be, you had your own problems, just like Misaki-senpai did when she quit FC," Mashiro told him. "But don't quit again. I, I would be sad if you quit this time."

"Mashiro," Masaya said gently. "I got it."

The two smiled at each other and then turned to watch the stars. Later as they left, Mashiro asked something.

"Have you ever talked to Rika before?" Mashiro asked him.

Masaya sweated "Even if I did, she probably wouldn't be interested in talking to me," he said. "I did see her undressing two times by pure accident, but she took it the wrong way."

"But I thought she forgave you," Mashiro said.

"Well, Madoka just told me she did, I don't know if Ichinose really has, and I'm nervous to approach her because of that," Masaya admitted.

"You have nothing to worry about," Mashiro positively said. "Rika's really kind, I'm sure she's forgiven you. Just give it a try."

"Alright, I'll do that," Masaya said.

After the two split paths and went home, Masaya went home and took a shower. After getting dressed, he opened his curtains and immediately covered his eyes with an arm. He already saw her undressed twice, he wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. After a few seconds passed, he uncovered his eyes, only to see a staring Rika who blinked with curiousity as to what he was doing. Masaya sighed with relief.

Rika went over and opened the window. "What are you trying to do?" Rika asked in a non-agressive voice.

Masaya was nervous, but mustered up the courage. "Um, I heard you and Mashiro get along pretty well," Masaya said.

"Yes," Rika said friendly. "She asked me for help one time and I gave her some help."

"Help you say, was it at the time when Mashiro changed her style to a Speeder?" Masaya which she confirmed with a nod. "Thank you, she really improved from that change."

"I didn't do much, it was her own effort," Rika said. "By the way, I heard you were training Mashiro."

"That's right, but how did you know?" Masaya asked.

"She texted me the other day about it," Rika said.

I see," Masaya said. 'I guess talking with Ichinose won't be a problem after all.'

"Say, what was that screaming I heard earlier?" Rika asked curiously as Masaya jolted with sweat.

"That was, uh..." Masaya fumbled.

"And it sounded like Mashiro was with you," Rika said with no ill intent.

"Y-you must be hearing things!" Masaya responded. 'Can't just tell her what happened.'

"Maybe I was," Rika said looking up innocently. "To think you were so good at FC this whole time. And here I thought you were just a pervert of a coach."

"I didn't mean-" Masaya started with worry.

"I know," Rika said. "After observing you more after that incident, I realized you weren't like that and had no intention to see me like that on purpose."

Masaya inwardly sighed with relief as the pressure left him.

"Sorry for bothering you," Masaya said.

"No it's fine," Rika said smiling. "If you ever want to talk to me, do so or come over."

"Alright, goodnight," Masaya said as Rika said goodnight as well.

After going over to his bed, he had a good nights sleep with thoughts set on training with Mashiro in the morning. The next day as he left with Mashiro early, he told her how he talked with Rika, which pleased Mashiro. After getting to the training spot they trained together as usual. Masaya was holding back most of his skill so Mashiro could keep up and improve. After the match, Mashiro was pretty happy.

"Mashiro levels up!" the girl said with a fist pump.

Masaya sweat dropped while smiling. He found this side of her exasperating at first, but it started to grow on him.

"Your final Sonic Boost was great," Masaya praised her.

Mashiro smiled from the praise. "A Sonic Boost?" a voice rung out with curiousity.

"Who?" Masaya wondered as he stared at the boy approaching.

It was a boy around their age with black hair, brown eyelids, a blue shirt and long pants. His skin was white, and his voice lacked much emotion.

"I was watching," the boy said looking at Mashiro. "Your moves were impressive for a Speeder, but would it be alright if I took you on in a match?"

"Eh? Sure, I don't mind," Mashiro said

"Is that okay with you, Masaya?" the boy asked.

"Y-yeah," Masaya said slightly thrown off guard by the sudden challenge.

"Then why don't we hold a match after school?" the boy proposed as the two looked at him.

"That's fine, we'll meet here after school then," Masaya said and the other boy left.

After the two went to school to eat breakfest, Mashiro ate in an eager fashion as Masaya sweat dropped.

"Calm down," Masaya said. "Do you want to get sick before fighting him?"

"Training training!" Mashiro said as she kept rapidly slurping up the food, drawing looks from those in the place.

Masaya had a nervous smile. Sometimes he wondered why he was surrounded by an odd bunch for a team. Some time later, Asuka came with Misaki since Mashiro was training with Masaya.

"Okay, try using the Sonic Boost repeadedly!" Masaya ordered.

"Yes!" Mashiro said, but her attempts made her fly out of control everwhere. "S-save me!"

"Steady yourself!" Masaya said.

"I know but!" Mashiro yelled.

"This is no good," Misaki sighed. "Man, she's so lively despite always being the one who goofs up."

Masaya finally intervened and embraced her to stop her from her loss of control. Mashiro calmed down and realized she was in Masaya's arms. Her cheeks lit bright red and she struggled out of his grip, which he let go.

"Pervert!" Mashiro declared flusteredly.

"You were going out of control and asked for my help," Masaya said calmly.

"That's true but..." Mashiro trailed off as she averted his gaze.

"What's going on?" Asuka asked looking at their awkward expressions.

"No idea," Misaki said.

Moments later, they flew down and revealed what happened in the morning.

"Hmm, so someone challenged Mashiro to a match," Misaki said.

"Right," Masaya said.

"I'm in better shape than ever!" Mashiro said lively.

"So that's why you lost control and begged for my help?" Masaya asked with a smile.

"T-that was...!" Mashiro started, unable to refute. "Anyway, I'm getting better, so I can't wait to play!"

Asuka and Misaki looked at her quietly with smiles. Mashiro brimmed with confidence just like in the final tournament. After school, Masaya and co made way to their area, where the guy was waiting. Mashiro was in her yellow white FC clothes, and the guy in a blue black one.

"Oh, so you didn't chicken out after all," Mashiro said in a playful tease while looking at him.

"Yes," he said with little emotion, but his face turned somewhat serious as his voice took a more emotional one. "Let me see it, your strength as an FC player!"

"You got it!" Mashiro said fired up.

"He does have emotion after all," Misaki said watching him.

"Can you act as referree?" Masaya asked Madoka's brother.

"Yeah, leave it to me," Madoka's brother said as he took out a whistle.

Mashiro and the boy flew up to the FC area as Masaya put on his mic. Mashiro had put on hers before flying up. After they got to their respective position, Madoka's brother readied himself. As they waited, Mashiro glared at her opponent in alert while he stared at her with a look of pure confidence.

"Ready, set, go!" Madoka's brother declared.

Both took off, but the boy seemed much faster.

"He's fast!" Misaki said in surprise.

"Mashiro," Asuka said with worry.

Mashiro was stunned by his speed, but Masaya called in.

"Stop dwindling and take a shortcut to the next buoy!" Masaya ordered.

"Right!" Mashiro responded and did just that.

As per FC rules, she has to at least score a point to his back before being allowed to go to the buoy she took a shortcut to. The boy touched the first buoy, then made his way quickly towards Mashiro, who was just now starting to focus in front of her to stop him.

"Hurry!" Masaya yelled.

"Eh-ah!" Mashiro yelled as the boy flew right past her, and touched the buoy.

The score now went up to two for the boy while Mashiro had no points. Once she took a shortcut, she waited, this time more alert. Once he approached, Mashiro tried to touch him, but he dodged and touched her back quickly for a point. Now it was three to zero.

"What speed!" Madoka said.

"He's not even flying with his balancers off," Masaya said.

"So when are you going to put up an actual fight!" the boy taunted friendly as he stopped to let her balance herself.

After regaining her balance she noticed he was staring at her with folded arms, not even trying to go for the buoy near her.

"He stopped, why?" Asuka asked.

Masaya's eyes narrowed as he listened in.

"Why did you stop?" Mashiro asked. "You could have scored more points."

"Correct," he said, then used taunting as a way to fire her up, knowing she can do better than this. "But it's no fun beating you so easily like this, so I'll give you a chance. I'll give you one minute to score points against me, and during that time I will make no attempt to score points."

"Huh? Are you taking me for a fool!?" Mashiro asked.

"You want to score on me, do you not?" he tried to provoke her. "Well here I am. Come and take it!"

"Mashiro, take his bait," Masaya said knowing she wanted to. "He's that confident against you, so he must be serious about it."

"Yes!" Mashiro responded and then charged at him quickly.

He narrowed his eyes and dodged this. Mashiro didn't let up and kept trying. At a few moments even he was taken by surprise.

"You're a little better than I thought, I'll give you that much, but you are still by no means a good player," he told her, upping his purposeful taunting.

"Shut up!" Mashiro said as she kept trying.

"She's doing her best, but it's just not working," Madoka said.

'No, he's holding back on purpose, he could end this at any moment,' Masaya thought. 'I can tell by his movements he's not taking this seriously. What should I do?'

"Time's running out!" the boy said.

"Mashiro," Masaya whispered. "Go for the next buoy."

"Why?" Mashiro asked.

"I have an idea," Masaya said and whispered it.

"Roger!" Mashiro said, puzzling the boy.

She then sped off to the next buoy.

"No you don't!" the boy yelled as he caught up to her.

Mashiro smirked and quickly spun around him and hit him in the bac, finally earning her a point.

"But how!?" he asked with surprise.

"You were so confident in catching me you didn't notice what I really planned to do," Mashiro said with a smirk.

He grunted, but not as much as Masaya thought he would. "Alright!" Madoka yelled.

"No, wrong!" Masaya said in alert. 'He hasn't been taking this serious from the start. Mashiro just got a lucky hit to his back.'

The boy then put on a serious look. "Not good," he started, his eyes at the moment concealed from view. "Do you really expect to win if you keep playing like this!? Take this seriously and come at me with your best!"

"Huh? You're just upset that I scored a point against you!" Mashiro exclaimed in annoyance.

"...You're lacking," he started in a calmer voice. "As a Speeder, and a player. As you are, you won't be able to win-no not just against me, but against top players!"

Mashiro gasped as did Masaya as the boy's voice became furious and he unlocked his balancers.

"That's..." Misaki started.

"The same as us!" Asuka exclaimed in surprise.

"It was inevitable that more people would creep up and master it," Aoi said.

"No way..." Mashiro said as the feeling of hoplesness crept up.

"Don't give up!" Masaya encouraged.

"Y-yeah!" Mashiro said trying to stay strong.

As she charged at him he declared "Time up!" and slammed her away with one swipe effortlessly.

"Let me show you, what you lack!" the boy yelled with furiousity as he flew extremely fast around her with very fast speeds.

"It's over," Misaki said closing her eyes as the others looked at her. "She hasn't mastered her balancers yet."

The others said nothing but knew Misaki was right. Still Masaya stayed determined.

"Mashiro, use your Sonic Boost to get out of there!" Masaya said urgently.

"Yes!" Mashiro said as she attempted to so.

The boy waited a few moments, and then caught up to her in no time and slammed her away with one hand.

"Just look at you," the boy taunted with a grin. "With my balancers you stood no chance, and with them off I could win ten times over. Pathetic!"

He then started hitting her back, getting another point.

"Is this really all you have?" he continued to try bringing out more strength from her through provoke. "This is the level of a player on Masaya's team? What nonsense!"

The people on the ground looked at Masaya, who looked really angry.

He then hit her back a few more times, bringing the match to an end. "Hmph, boring, so boring!" the boy said with pretend disinterest before flying away.

Mashiro slowly landed to the ground near Masaya.

"Mashiro," Masaya said gently in concern.

She wasn't responding. The next thing that happened sliced at Masaya's heart. Mashiro broke down and cried as tears constantly kept falling.

"Mashiro?" Misaki asked with worry, but Mashiro kept crying loudly.

Nobody besides Masaya knew what that guy said, so they didn't know why she was crying.

A/N: Did anyone notice how in the show, Mashiro was more a dogfighter than a Speeder? The show tries to push she's a Speeder, but she was in dogfighting a lot more. Pretty much everyone on the show either mostly dogfighted, or they resorted to dogfighting in the end. Aside from Mashiro, most of the others call Rika 'Ichinose'.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

The next day, Mashiro layed in bed, but not before her mother had her get up eventually. Mashiro really didn't want to go to school, so she simply acted like she was, but in reality she went somewhere else to be alone. The usual cheery life in her eyes was gone and replaced with deep sorrow. Sitting somewhere out of sight, she begun to sob.

Meanwhile Masaya left, but not before a hollow feeling crept up in him. It felt empty to him without Mashiro here this early. Realizing there was no point to leaving early, he went back inside. Sitting on his bed he thought back on yesterday.

Masaya's face turned into an angry one just remembering it. The way that guy teared Mashiro down sickened Masaya so much. His rage was building more by the second, and he started clenching a fist intensely. Later, he left by himself and joined Asuka and Misaki. Although Asuka tried to make conversation, Masaya was not in the mood for talking.

"Sorry Asuka, but I want to be alone," Masaya said and excused himself to go forward.

"Coach," Asuka sympathy.

Misaki had a sympathetic look as well. They knew he was really worried about Mashiro.

After getting to school, Masaya went straight to his own classroom. He tried to see if Mashiro was in her classroom, but she was not, making him depressed.

"Did Mashiro come to school with you?" Madoka asked them.

"She didn't," Masaya said quietly.

"I see," Madoka said, making a sad expression.

Once class started, Masaya was noticeably unfocused, but managed to pay enough attention. The girls were concerned about Masaya along with their thoughts of Mashiro, so they too were distracted. As lunch break started, Aoi walked up to Masaya.

"It's not like you to be so unmotivated after playing FC again," Aoi said to him. "Did something happen?"

"Well..." Masaya started.

"It's about Mashiro isn't it," Aoi said while smiling understandingly.

For some reason he felt his cheeks burn up from that.

"Yeah," Masaya said.

"Well I don't know everything like you do in that match, but I do know that the only one who can help her through this is you," Aoi said. "If anyone can, it's you."

"Eh?" Masaya said as he saw the other girls looking at him with smiles of agreement. "I-I got it!"

"That's right, you two get along so well she'll have to cheer up," Misaki said with a grin.

"A-anyway, I'll do what I can!" Masaya said trying to compose himself. 'Mashiro.'

Once school was out, he wasted no time in his search for her. He tried looking at some fast food joints, but she was nowhere to be found. However, at long last, he spotted her walking by herself near some trees out of sight. Flying towards her, he spoke up.

"Mashiro!" he called out, landing next to her as she faced him.

"Masaya...senpai," Mashiro got out.

"Everyone was worried about you," Masaya started.

"I...I'm quitting FC," Mashiro said almost emotionless now.

"You're what!?" Masaya asked in shock.

"But, you saw what happened didn't you!?" Mashiro said as tears started to form. "I was no good! I just can't catch up to everyone else!"

Masaya kept silent as he didn't know what to say at the moment. Now Mashiro's tears overflowed, rapidly falling down her cheeks.

"He's right," Mashiro said as her voice became sobbingly. "No matter how hard I try, I can never keep up with those around me! I'm, I'm just not special or gifted at all!"

"You're wrong!" Masaya said as he hugged her to calm her down. "Don't ever say you're no good!"

"But it's true," Mashiro said sadly.

"Then why am I here right now?" Masaya asked gently. "You think you're not good enough and not special, but you've got it wrong."

"Huh?" Mashiro managed to get out as he slightly backed away and put his hands on her shoulders.

"It's true, you aren't extremely gifted like some of our friends, but did that stop you from training with me?" Masaya asked her. "Even knowing that you didn't give up. You kept trying your best. I think you're stronger than you think. And to me, you're already special in your own way."

"Masaya," Mashiro said deeply touched by his words.

"You aren't usless, and don't ever think you are," Masaya said smiling at her.

Mashiro's lips quivered as she gently sobbed into his arms after saying his name. Masaya smiled and moved a hand behind her head. Afterwards, she faced him.

"Thank you," Mashiro said softly after calming down.

"Say, did you eat anything today?" Masaya asked, but got an answer on hearing her stomach growl. "Why don't we go to my house to eat then?"

"Agreed," Mashiro said groaningly as she rubbed her stomach.

He didn't want to run into the others right now, as he didn't want them to put any pressure on her or try to get her to do anything. As they traveled home, she stuck close to him, keeping quiet. After getting home, Masaya prepared her some food, as he doubted she had ate at all today.

"Here," Masaya said as he set the food in front of her; for she was setting at the table.

"Ah, thanks," Mashiro weakly said.

It was understandable that her voice sounded weak. She cried very heavily after all.

"How is it?" Masaya asked as she ate.

"Good!" Mashiro said, gaining a bit of cheerfulness.

Masaya smiled. It felt so relaxing having her presence around again. He kept silent, letting her eat her meal in peace. After she was done, they went in his room. Masaya felt a bit awkward for some reason.

"I wonder what the others are doing right now," Masaya said trying to make conversation to ease the awkward feeling.

Mashiro seemed like she wasn't paying attention. "...Masaya," she started. "How is it that you stay so strong about FC?"

"Me?" Masaya asked.

"Since playing again, you always never give up," Mashiro started. "Even when you fought against hard odds, you pressed forward. What gives you such confidence and strength?"

"That would be you guys," Masaya said as Mashiro gave a curious look.

"Because of us?" Mashiro asked.

"Even when I have tough times to deal with, there is one thing I always keep in mind," Masaya said. "I'm not alone. I have friends whom I care about, people who cheer me on. That's why when I'm in a corner, I never forget this."

"We...give you strength," Mashiro said. "But, I still don't think FC is for me."

"Is that so? Then I guess I quit," Masaya said casually while closing his eyes briefly.

"W-why!?" Mashiro asked in panic.

"Because I wouldn't enjoy FC knowing you aren't there," Masaya admitted.

"But," Mashiro said looking down.

"Then why don't we prove it," Masaya said in a positive voice. "That someone like you can take on great players like that."

"You saw what happened didn't you!?" Mashiro started as her voice turned sad.

"I know," Masaya stated. "It's true you lost, but that just means you'll have to get stronger. I know you can."

Mashiro stared at him. How could he believe this much in someone like her?

"Why, why do you care this much about me?" Mashiro asked with a sad look.

"Because I do," Masaya said gently which made her cheeks go red. "To me, you're someone important. And there's no way I'm going to let someone that important fall into despair."

"...You're right," Mashiro said gently with a tender smile as she sat next to him. "But it's best to take a break for now."

"Agreed," Masaya said. 'After that experience, it would be better for her to relax for a few days.'

"Aren't you a softie, so worried about me," Mashiro teased with a grin while his cheeks started to turn red.

"So what if I do..." Masaya muttered avoiding her gaze, and then got a look of surprise as Mashiro wrapped her hands around his arm. "What are you-"

"Responsibility," Mashiro said with a grin.

"Ha?" Masaya said confused.

"You went out of your way to find me," Mashiro started. "Calmed down a crying girl and even brought her to your home and served her food afterwards. I just can't leave now after Masaya-senpai did all of that for me."

"D-do what you want!" Masaya stuttered as he slightly blushed. "Uh, Mashiro, can I ask something?"

Mashiro became curious. "What makes you so attached to Misaki?" Masaya asked, for some reason feeling like asking it.

"Hmm, I guess it was back then when I was late getting home, and my shoes stopped working," Mashiro started. "When I fell and thought I was going to die, Misaki-senpai flew down and caught me. I was grateful, and I was amazed that someone who didn't even know me helped me out. She really is amazing."

By this point she was fantasizing. Masaya felt a twinch of pain in his heart for some reason.

"I see," Masaya said in a subtle discouraged voice.

"But Masaya-senpai is amazing too, and kind," Mashiro said with one eye closed.

"Really?" Masaya asked as his cheeks felt warm.

The two laughed lightly, enjoying one another's company.

Later, they went to sleep, Masaya on his bed and Mashiro on the floor. Mashiro texted earlier to her mom she was staying at Masaya's. But as Masaya slept, Mashiro quietly snuck on the bed and under the covers with him while blushing. She didn't want to sleep alone right now, and she felt comfortable being near him. Seeing a close up of his face, Mashiro smiled and closed her eyes. The following morning, Masaya was the first to start waking up. Just then, he felt something on his chest. Getting a full view of his surroundings, he realized that Mashiro had climbed in bed with him, and what's more her head was on his chest as she quietly slept. Masaya's face heated up as his heart begun to beat at a fast rate. He didn't know what to do. Just then Mashiro woke up and greeted him good morning.

"Um, Mashiro," Masaya started, directing her attention to where he was looking.

Mashiro looked, but saw no problem. "What, are you afraid you might do something perverted?" Mashiro asked in a tease.

"That's not the issue, and why are you holding onto me?" Masaya asked.

"I thought you would like a girl doing that," Mashiro said. "Besides, Masaya-Senpai was so cute sleeping."

The last part she added a bit flirtatiously.

"No way, you're much cuter than me," Masaya carelessly let out nervously as the two then blushed over this.

"B-baka!" Mashiro said as she looked away in embarrassment before looking back at him shyly.

The air turned awkward as the two sat in silence for a moment. "I-in any case, let's eat," Masaya said.

"Y-yeah!" Mashiro stuttered.

As they ate, Mashiro asked. "Do you say things like this to any girl?" she asked with annoyance.

"Of course not," Masaya responded. "You're the only one I've said something like that to."

Mashiro was left speechless, unable to say anything. "I-is that so?" she asked.

They got quiet once more. Mashiro was avoiding his gaze with glazing eyes and red cheeks, while Masaya was sweating and avoiding her gaze, feeling strange inside. After finishing their food, they left to go wake Misaki. Mashiro tended to do it, so Masaya simply stayed silent and waited outside. Once they came out, Misaki was surprised to see Masaya waiting there, as he normally just meets them along the way to school. But then it clicked in Misaki's head that Mashiro seemed more happy than yesterday. Misaki smiled knowingly at Masaya, knowing he had something to do with this without a doubt. Furthermore, Masaya looked happy too. After leaving, Asuka joined up with them. Like Misaki, Asuka could see a positive change.

"Mashiro seems better," Asuka noted.

Misaki noticed Mashiro was flying next to Masaya instead of her. To tell the truth it felt weird to her not seeing Mashiro cling to her in a while. But it was to be expected considering Mashiro and Masaya seemed to grow closer over the days.

"Masaya as well," Misaki said in a dull voice due to how she is in the mornings.

Both her and Misaki smiled at the pair's happy faces as they all flew to school.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

The four made it to school, and as Madoka greeted them, noticed Mashiro.

"Feeling better?" Madoka greeted.

"Yes, totally recharged!" Mashiro dramatically proclaimed.

Masaya sat at his chair with a hand to his chin while smiling at Mashiro. He then closed his eyes, happy to see the cheerful girl at school again.

"Oh, you seem better," Aoi called out walking towards him.

"Kagami-sensei," Masaya said.

"Mashiro is back as well I see," Aoi said looking at the girl.

"Sorry for making you all worry," Mashiro said.

"No that's okay, we're just glad to see you feeling better," Asuka said understandingly.

"That's right, Masaya was pretty down yesterday," Misaki added in a non-caring voice.

Masaya twitched visibly. "Wait!" he said in panic.

"She's right, he was so sad that he couldn't focus in class very well too," Madoka threw in.

"That's..." Masaya said as his cheeks felt hot.

"Hmm? Masaya-senpai was that worried about me?" Mashiro asked in a tease while moving close to him and putting her hands on his shoulders, and resting her head on his neck.

Masaya looked away while running circles on his cheek with a finger. The others laughed at him. Mashiro then went to class but not before waving at Masaya.

"And there she goes again without being so clingy to me," Misaki muttered silently.

"What's wrong?" Asuka asked Misaki.

"Huh? Oh nothing," Misaki said before taking one last look at Masaya. 'I wonder...'

During lunch break, as expected Masaya wanted to eat with Mashiro. But the girls had other plans at the moment, and it had to do with Mashiro.

"Sorry, but could you eat by yourself this time?" Misaki asked.

"Huh? Why?" Masaya asked.

"Classified," Misaki said slowly.

"Uh, ah, sure," Masaya said. "If that's what you want."

So he complied and left them alone. "Hey, wasn't that mean of you!?" Mashiro asked the two girls in clear annoyance. "What's so important you made him leave!?"

"Were you wanting to eat with him?" Madoka asked in a subtle grin.

"W-well," Mashiro started avoiding their gaze. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing at all," Asuka said gently.

"We just wanted to eat this once with just us girls," Madoka tried to say.

"Really?" Mashiro asked and then glared. "Then why didn't you just say that to him?"

"I wonder," Misaki said vaguely which made Mashiro get a vein pop.

"Whatever, let's just eat!" Mashiro said in annoyance at them. 'Geez, they could at least explain why they didn't want him here!'

As they chatted while they ate, it became noticeable to the others that Mashiro seemed to bring up Masaya in the conversations. In fact, Madoka now caught onto how she seemed to show more attention to Masaya than Misaki as of late.

"Masaya would have beat Shindou if he had played back then," Mashiro spoke, only to be met with grins from the others besides Asuka. "W-what?"

"It's just, you seem to talk about Masaya more than you would at all," Madoka said with a full grin on her face.

Mashiro blushed. "S-so what!?" Mashiro stuttered out, and then looked at Misaki who had an amused expression. "Not you too Misaki-senpai!"

"What happened to you paying me so much attention, and seeking it from me I wonder?" Misaki asked.

"What are you saying? I still pay my senpai plenty of attention!" Mashiro said and attempted to love on Misaki.

But Misaki could tell that Mashiro was trying to force it, unlike the other times. She knew it wasn't her business to do this, but she felt like she had to say something.

"Haven't you realized it yet?" Misaki asked her.

"Realized what?" Mashiro asked.

"No, nevermind," Misaki said, wanting her to figure it out herself.

"Hmm?" Madoka wondered as she was curious as to what Misaki was going to say.

After school was over with, the team, besides Mashiro did practice. As the girls thought, Mashiro was extra cheerful with Masaya. After practice, they left. Misaki had an errand she had to run for her house, so she left the group.

"Let's see, I needed to get some more vegetables," Misaki said, looking at a note.

Just as she was going to walk in, someone came out. And it wasn't someone she was thrilled to see. For it was the same person who challenged Mashiro. The guy was carrying some grocerys and stared at her with a curious expression. But then it clicked.

"You're one of the ones from back then!" he said in realization. "What is it?"

"Why are you so hostile towards Mashiro!?" Misaki asked in anger.

"Hold it, let's not make a scene in this place," he gestured with his hands out. "Why don't we talk in a less public area?"

So after going somewhere less public, they resumed.

"So? Out with it!" Misaki demanded.

He was a bit nervous. She honestly felt intimidating to him despite having seen the previous tournament on TV with her and her friends playing, but he knew she wanted answers.

"Wrong," he started with little emotion. "I'm not hostile towards her."

"Then why was she crying after you beat her!?" Misaki asked.

"What!?" he asked in shock, but then realized it. "I see, so that's what happened. I didn't intend that to happen."

"What do you mean!?" Misaki asked in anger.

"I challenged Mashiro to a match because I saw she had potential," he started. "She may improve slower than the rest of you, but she tries her best, and I liked that. So I decided to try taunting her as a means to fire her up in our match. But, I had no idea that my words would cause her to cry. I regret that, and realize that I took the wrong approach."

Misaki was taken aback by this. He never planned to make her cry, he was simply trying to motivate her. She gained more surprise as he set his grocerys down, and got on his knees with his face facing the ground.

"I'm sorry," he apologized with a sad look. "I didn't mean to hurt her like that."

Misaki's anger subsided. She had the complete wrong idea of this person.

"Hmm, it's all good," Misaki said in a forgiving voice. "You could have still went about it another way."

"Yeah, I know," he admitted. "You know, since you're here, how about we play a match?"

"Me against you?" Misaki asked, to which he nodded. "Then you better prepare for some zipzapping!"

"I look forward to it!" he said in a more lively voice.

So they went to the practice area, which was empty at the moment. That left just Misaki and the boy, who now changed into their FC gear. Flying up to the start point and getting in position, he spoke.

"The first to get seven points wins, is that alright?" he asked her to which she nodded. "Okay, I'll fire the signal by using three fingers."

In response she looked at the three carefully as they went down. Once the final finger went down, both took off at a strong burst of speed.

"Wow, you're great!" he complimented her.

"Thank you!" Misaki said with full confidence and a cocky smile.

She then headed to the next buoy by shortcut since he was faster.

"As expected, she wasted no time in making a decision, that's Misaki alright," he said. "Now then, what should I do? Use my speed and pass her like I did Mashiro?"

Quickly getting a point by touching the first buoy, he raised his speed and flew towards Misaki who was waiting. But Misaki fully prepared and swiped him back.

"The same trick won't work again!" Misaki said.

"Then how about this?" he yelled out with confidence.

He then flew at her, but just as she was going to swipe again, he evaded it, slightly moved under her and then spinned in the direction of her back and scored a point.

'That guy, he's serious!' Misaki thought. "But, so am I!"

Misaki started trying to hit him like a berserk creature. "Your fighting style is too reckless," he pointed out. "But you're definitely a fighter!"

He then knocked her away and quickly touched her back, scoring another point, putting him at three to Misaki's zero. Misaki glared at being not able to do well yet. She didn't want to admit it, but this guy was much better than her with balancers on.

"This is pretty fun," he said as he started to pant. "But it's time we quit testing the waters."

"I couldn't agree more!" Misaki yelled out as she released the balancers on her shoes.

"What!?" he said with genuine surprise to his voice. "Impossible! You mastered your balancers!?"

"Correct, now I'll really get serious!" Misaki said with confidence.

She then charged at him, but as expected of the balancers off, she was too quick for him. He tries to swipe and avoid, but she was overpowering him. She then started scoring points by hitting his back a few times.

"Her movements, her playing style, everything's different!" He noted. 'With this level of speed, her relentless moves are really difficult to combat.'

"How's that?" Misaki yelled as she hit him in the back once more.

Then he smiled. "You're really interesting," he said, earning a surprise from Misaki, who then smiled.

"You're not too bad yourself," Misaki complimented the sporting boy.

His expression then turned serious, alerting Misaki who knew what was coming.

"But now the true fight begins here!" he yelled out furiously, touching his Grav-Shoes which made the wing particles from the shoes expand bigger. "Balancers, unlock!"

"Here it comes!" Misaki said bracing herself.

"Now, show me your real strength, as an FC player!" he yelled charging at her.

Misaki charged quickly too. The two collided over and over again. When one swiped the other, they quickly regained enough balance to evade. As they played, they had fun.

"I don't want this to end!" he said in excitement. "Misaki, playing against you is so much fun!"

Misaki smiled at the acknowledgement. "Thank you very much!" she yelled in a fun confident voice.

The two continued to battle. In the end, although she put up a good fight, Misaki lost. But both smiled at each other with satisfaction as they panted.

"That was a good match," he told her in a friendly tone. "Bye."

Misaki smiled as he grabbed his stuff and flew away. It seemed to her like he shows more emotion and comes out of his shell when he plays FC. And from this match she could tell he loves FC a lot. Although Misaki knew he was a really nice guy, she decided to not tell Mashiro or Masaya everything so that they have motivation to work hard for the upcoming tournament. After all, because they dislike him, that can serve as motivation for them to train extra hard to try beating him.

Misaki flew away. "Ah, I'm tired," Misaki said as she went home.

A/N: Too many shows have it where the person is a bad guy or a legit jerk on purpose in this sort of scenerio, so I wanted to do something different for a change.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

Some days passed, and at the moment, Mashiro was at her house by herself. Taking out a goofy pillow, she started to do her mimic.

"Mashiro, you had another good day with Masaya-senpei," she said.

"Aw, don't rub it in!" Mashiro said with her eyes closed and a fantasizing expression of happiness.

"You should give him your phone number," she said in the pillow's place.

Mashiro blushed. "Yeah, you're right," she said flusteredly. "W-we're friends after all!"

So she got up, took her phone and flew over to Masaya's house. Knocking, Masaya opened.

"Yes? Mashiro," Masaya said in realization. "Come on in."

Walking in, he closed the door behind him. "You don't get out much do you," Mashiro said, giving a look of annoyance. "You wanted to go straight home after school was done."

"Well, I'm so used to doing that since I never really hanged out with you guys that much besides coaching and occasional eating," Masaya said.

"So you don't like being with me?" Mashiro asked in a convincing sad voice.

"No that's not what I-" Masaya started in guilt, only for Mashiro to throw herself on him.

"Masaya-senpai is so sweet!" Mashiro said in a flirty voice while loving on him. "I could fall for you even more-huh?"

"Hmm?" Masaya wondered at her pause.

'What did I just say to him?' Mashiro thought to herself.

Masaya thought she ment that as a tease, so he didn't have much of a reaction, but he did feel his face burning up and his heart thumping quickly.

"Mashiro?" Masaya asked, only for her to quickly let go of him.

"A-anyway, there's something I want to ask!" Mashiro said, taking out her phone as her face heated up. "C-can I have your phone number?"

"Yeah, sure," Masaya said which delighted Mashiro. "Here."

Showing the phone number on his phone, she copied it into her phone and saved it.

"Yes, Masaya-senpai's number is in mine, now I can call you whenever!" she exclaimed in excitement.

"I'm glad to hear that," Masaya said with a smile.

After a bit more talking, Mashiro left to go next door. She wanted to visit Rika since it has been a while since they last visited. Knocking, Rika opened the door and was happy to see Mashiro. Going in and closing the door, they went and talked in her room.

"How are you doing?" Rika asked in a friendly voice.

"Hmm, I'm not sure you could say great but not bad either," Mashiro said.

"What makes you say that?" Rika asked in curiousity.

"Well..." Mashiro trailed off.

She decided to tell her that she lost a match and took a break from FC. "I see, so that's what happened," Rika said feeling bad for her.

"But I'm fine now," Mashiro said as she rested her head near her knees, and her voice grew very soft. "Because Masaya-senpai has been there for me."

"Masaya?" Rika asked.

"Mmm," Mashiro said. "An FC player faced me some days ago, defeated me with ease, and put me down. I felt so sad that I broke down crying. I didn't even want to go to school the next day, so I went off somewhere to avoid my friends."

"Mashiro," Rika said in sympathy.

"But, later that day, Masaya-senpai found me by myself," Mashiro said. "Even though I felt so worthless and sad to the point of wanting to quit FC, he supported me so much. To him, I was already special."

"He said that?" Rika asked to which she nodded.

"He even believes someone like me who's not as gifted can defeat strong people like that arrogant FC player," Mashiro said. "He's a really kind person, that Masaya. Even when I doubted myself about it, he still truly believed in me."

Rika observed her gentle voice and expression throughout this.

"Masaya-senpai is so great!" Mashiro said with a daydream expression.

Rika laughed nervously, and then smiled. "You're really fond of him aren't you?" she asked as Mashiro blushed. "Then why don't you tell him how you feel?"

"Eh?" Mashiro asked.

"I'm sure if you do, you'll be able to realize your true feelings," Rika said.

"My true feelings?" Mashiro asked. "What do you mean?"

"Just speak to him from your heart, and you'll be able to see it," Rika said putting a hand to her own heart.

"From...my heart," Mashiro slowly said.

She could tell from the way Mashiro was behaving that she loved Masaya, but she wanted her to see it herself.

"That's right," Rika encouraged. "Give it a try."

Mashiro's cheeks lit very red. "O-okay," she stuttered out.

Some time later, Mashiro left and headed home. She then sat in bed while texting Masaya. Masaya likewise was in bed. He'd just sent her a text reading "What were you and Ichinose doing?".

To that she replied back with a "Nothing you need to know!".

He replied back with "Yeah yeah,".

Mashiro then wrote back with a "Hey, can we go shopping tommorow?".

He replied with "Sure, I don't see why not."

She replied with "Great! Then let's go after school, just the two of us." After texting goodnight, the two went to sleep.

The next afternoon, Masaya left with Mashiro, telling the others they had plans. After some teasing by the others, they left to a shopping district.

"What exactly did you want to buy?" Masaya asked her.

"Hmm, snacks, snacks and more snacks!" Mashiro declared as Masaya sweat dropped.

'I wonder how much she eats,' Masaya thought nervously. "Uh, so we better go inside."

So they looked around, and bought some sweets for Mashiro while Masaya grabbed a few things for himself. After paying and walking out, they chatted.

"Man, you bought a lot of snacks," Masaya said exasperately.

"All part of a girl's growing body!" Mashiro proudly proclaimed.

'No, I'm sure if you ate that much you would be pretty sick,' Masaya thought to himself.

"Hinata-kun?" a voice rung out, getting his and Mashiro's attention.

Before them were Shindou and Satou.

"What's she doing here!?" Mashiro yelled in fright at Satou, hiding behind Masaya.

"I could ask the same of you!" Satou fired back.

"Shindou-san," Masaya said in surprise.

"We had some time to spare, so we've been walking around," Shindou told him. "But what are you two doing here? Shouldn't the others be with you?"

"I was shopping with Mashiro," Masaya said as she stopped hiding.

"Oh, if you have enough time to flirt with your boyfriend, maybe you should use that time to practice!" Satou chided.

"Wrong!" Mashiro quickly fumbled out as her cheeks went very red.

"It's not like that!" Masaya too fumbled out with very red cheeks.

"Am I?" Satou asked with a cocky grin. "Then explain why Mashiro wanted to shop alone with Masaya all of a sudden over her Misaki-senpai, and why Masaya is here all alone with her."

They both started steaming, unable to retort back due to how flustered they were.

"Now, don't be so intrusive on them Satou-kun," Shindou told her in an easy going voice.

"Satouin, President!" Satou quickly scolded him for who knows how many times over this issue.

"How's her practice going?" Shindou asked looking at Mashiro.

"Her practice?" Masaya asked.

"I heard about it from Ichinose," Shindou said. "You've had a really hard time."

Masaya and Mashiro went quiet. "What do you mean President?" Satou asked him.

Shindou decided to take them all somewhere to sit down, then he took Masaya aside out of earshot.

"Ichinose told me what happened with her in an FC match," Shindou said as Masaya's face became one of anger just remembering that player's words. "Is she doing okay?"

"She's doing better, but we agreed to take a break for a few days," Masaya told him.

"I see, that's a wise choice," Shindou said. "Some times taking a break is the right decision, otherwise you risk overexerting yourself physically and emotionally. I can only imagine how she felt as those terrible things were said to her."

"...Yeah," Masaya said knowing first hand.

"She's really important to you isn't she," Shindou noted understandingly. "I can tell by the way you've acted ever since I arrived with Satou-kun."

"...You're right, she is," Masaya admitted, smiling.

"Hinata-kun," Shindou started. "Keep watching over her, she has a great friend in you. And I'm sure she feels the same about you."

Masaya already knew that without him saying it, but it still felt nice to hear someone say it.

"I look forward to it, when she can play FC again and shine even brighter than she did before," Shindou said.

"Shindou-san," Masaya said as he started walking back.

They walked back over to Mashiro and Satou, who were bickering, or more like Satou was teasing her about something while Mashiro showed annoyance. Saying their goodbyes, Shindou and Satou parted ways from Masaya and Mashiro. Meanwhile Masaya and Mashiro did various things, such as taking a picture together or Mashiro dragging him to a toy vender to try winning an adorable animal toy. The two had fun. Eventually it got time for them to leave, which they did. But in the midst of the night before midnight, Mashiro got a text from Masaya. It read "Meet me at the practice area."

"Practice area, what does he want there?" Mashiro asked herself.

Sending him an okay text, she went out to see what he wanted. She arrived with her Grav-shoes, and landed next to him.

"Why did you call me here this late?" Mashiro asked.

"To fly again," Masaya stated.

"But, I don't know if-" Mashiro started, but Masaya took her hand.

"Don't worry, I'll be right here with you," Masaya said softly. "Won't you fly with me?"

How could she refuse when he wanted to fly with her?

"A-alright," Mashiro said.

After turning on their Grav-shoes, they slowly floated off the ground with the two linked in hands. Mashiro still felt hesitant, but Masaya said her name. Looking at him she noticed a smile.

"It's okay," he said gently.

Mashiro could feel her emotions start to rise. "Masaya-senpai," Mashiro said with a smile of her own.

The two started to fly together. As her emotions rose, she moved an arm around Masaya and rested her head on his arm. Being with him gave her not just courage, but relaxation. Masaya kept the speed slow to make her feel at ease. Masaya couldn't help but stare at Mashiro. This girl made him feel so weird these last few days. He knew by now he felt something for her, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"Mashiro," Masaya said. "Thank you."

"For what?" Mashiro asked with a curious expression.

"These days with you, have been so much fun," Masaya said, looking ahead. "Things happened, but I'm happy we became such good friends."

Mashiro's emotions started to overflow as she blushed, and her heart beat quickened.

"...Can we stop for a moment?" Mashiro asked to which he did effortlessly. "I feel the same. I never thought that much about you until we started practicing together. You ended up more than just a coach to me. You're, um, a-an important friend. Even when I wanted to give up on FC, you didn't adandon me. You were right there with me, helping me up. Even now, you still haven't given up on me. Thank you. I, I..."

As the girl was speaking from her heart, her feelings finally reached the mark. At the very moment she finally realized it, she let the words out from the bottom of her heart as she closed her eyes and blushed deeply. She now understood what Rika was trying to make her see.

"I love you!" Mashiro stated in a loud voice. "I love you, Masaya-senpai!"

Masaya was surprised at the revelation, knowing she was not joking this time and was serious. This feeling in him boiled over. Now he was positive this feeling was love. Everything clicked for him, the way everyone had been teasing him recently, the way Shindou and Satou could tell something was up, and the way he's felt recently.

"Me too," Masaya finally answered moving closer to her, surprising her from his words. "It's the truth, I love you too, Mashiro."

Mashiro was overcome with joy beyond words. "Masaya-senpai!" the girl happily proclaimed while hugging him.

Masaya smiled with glazed eyes and hugged her back. Somewhere above the two, a shooting star shot off.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

The following morning, Mashiro slept in a bit late, prompting Masaya to come visit and wake her up. Rubbing her eyes, she woke up only to see Masaya before her with a hand to her back.

"Awake?" Masaya then asked.

"Mmm," Mashiro said as a smile formed on her lips.

After letting her eat and get dressed, they left to get Misaki. Mashiro had her arms around Masaya's, soothing Masaya. He never would have thought he'd have a girlfriend, but he did. Just then a thought set in.

"Should we tell Misaki about us?" Masaya asked her.

"Huh? T-that's fine!" Mashiro stuttered, feeling awkward about telling her though. "Misaki-senpai should be okay with it...I think."

"I can't see her having a problem with it," Masaya said. "But, would she go blabbing it to the others? She already teased me before."

"She did the same to me at lunch yesterday," Mashiro said with a sigh. "That girl, she better not make fun of us!"

Masaya laughed. "I don't think she would," he said. "When I think about it, she seemed to know what was going on between us before we even knew it ourself."

Mashiro blushed as another thought crept up. "The others even seemed to know what was going on," she said pouty. "Were we that obvious about feeling that way about each other?"

"Perhaps," Masaya said. "I won't say anything to anyone about us if you don't want to."

"F-for now, it's probably a good idea to keep it a secret between us," Mashiro said, not wanting to endure a possible blab in class and then have the entire classroom hounding them with questions.

"I got it," Masaya said with a smile.

Once they showed up at her house, Misaki noticed something. Mashiro had her arms around Masaya's, and he showed no signs of nervousness.

"Something happen?" Misaki asked uncaringly, though she was actually very amused.

"What are you talking about?" Masaya asked with a hint of nervousness.

"Right, you're just not completely awake," Mashiro said a bit awkwardly.

Even though Misaki in the mornings had an uncaring air to her due to low suger, she bursted out into laughter. Masaya and Mashiro sweat dropped.

"What just happened?" Mashiro asked dumbfounded.

"Who knows," Masaya said with a dumbfounded expression as well.

"Hmm, maybe she had more sweets than normal," Mashiro noted.

"If you're going to try to keep a secret, don't be so obvious!" Misaki said in an amused tone.

The two looked at her with increasing nervousness.

"L-like how? And what secret?" Mashiro asked as her cheeks got red and she averted her gaze.

"For starters, Masaya should be feeling weird from you linking arms with him," Misaki said, pointing at them.

The two looked and realized this, then blushed greatly and unlinked their arms while blushing.

"S-sorry!" Masaya stuttered out.

"N-no, that's my fault-" Mashiro tried to say, flustered herself.

"So do you two want to tell me what happened yesterday?" Misaki asked with an amused smile. "We can hear all about it on the way to school once Asuka joins us."

They both twitched in embarrassment after those words. After leaving, Asuka catched up to them. Misaki gave the two a look that said she was waiting. Masaya sweated and looked at Mashiro, who nodded while blushing and clinging to him. If he didn't say it, Misaki would, leaving them no choice.

"Okay," Masaya started as Asuka wondered why he said that. "The truth is, Mashiro and I are lovers."

It took Asuka just a moment or so to process it, but when she did. "Great!" Asuka said in excitement and then halted the two by flying up close to them. "Coach and Mashiro-chan together is so cute, when did you get together, started feeling this way-"

Masaya and Mashiro had dropped jaws in nervousness at her billion questions at once. Misaki made no attempt to stop her, very entertained by the scene. Asuka was actually dense to any of the hints with them, but she was very happy to see them together. After getting to school, Masaya sat down in his class while taking out something.

"This is..." Mashiro started.

"Yeah, there's going to be another tournament starting in a few weeks," Masaya said.

"Maybe Inui-san will be there!" Asuka said in delight.

"We would hope she would be," Misaki said. "I still need to pay her back for that loss."

"I hear Shindou will be participating as well," Madoka joined in.

"That's to be expected," Masaya said. "He's not the 'King of Kings' for nothing."

"By the way, are you going to face him?" Madoka asked. "It would be interesting to see you two fight."

"You think?" Masaya asked her.

"Of course, Masaya-senpai would be the winner!" Mashiro said proudly before blushing at Madoka's amused glance.

"Hmm, so you're that confident in Masaya huh," Madoka said.

Masaya and Mashiro were getting uncomfortable, for they didn't want Madoka to find out and blurt it out for everybody in the room to hear. Misaki decided to bail them out, not wanting to put them through heavy embarrassment like that.

"So what?" Misaki intervened. "It's true, Masaya could probably beat him."

Masaya shot her a look as if to say "Thank you."

Before Mashiro left, she looked to see if anyone besides their friends, not including Madoka, were looking, and then gave him a kiss to the cheek, to his surprise, and then left with red cheeks. For a moment Masaya just stayed stunned while holding a hand on his cheek where she kissed it.

"Is there something I should know about?" Madoka asked with a big grin, having in fact saw it.

Masaya came back to reality and twitched in panic. "Masaya and Mashiro are l-mmmph" Asuka started before Masaya bolted up in lightning speed and put a hand over her mouth.

"D-don't just blurt it out in a place like this!" Masaya stuttered in a panic.

"'Blurt it out'," Madoka repeated. "What are you hiding?"

"I'll tell you at lunch," Misaki said.

Question marks appeared on Madoka's head as she had no idea what was going on. During lunch Misaki told Madoka what was going on, which Madoka responded with that she knew something was up. During training after school, Mashiro put on her FC gear.

"That gear," Masaya started. "Are you sure about this, starting practice again now?"

"Masaya-senpai, I, really want to beat that guy!" Mashiro said with renewed resolve. "I'm sure he'll be at that tournament, that's why I want to get stronger!"

"Mashiro," Masaya uttered, but then got a serious look of his own. "I understand, let's do it!"

Mashiro smiled at this, as did the others watching them. Masaya and Mashiro got up to the starting point and prepared.

"Don't let me score just cause I'm your girlfriend!" Mashiro stated with a cocky look.

"Of course!" Masaya said with a confident look.

A few weeks later, it was the early afternoon, and Masaya and his friends arrived at the tournament.

"Crowded like usual, this place," Misaki said looking around at all the people gathered and looking at the match board.

Asuka looked around, and spotted the boy who faced Mashiro. Asuka was delighted and ran over to him.

"Asuka!" Masaya called out.

"Where are you going!?" Mashiro said.

But on seeing the guy, Masaya and Mashiro's faces became one of anger, obviously not happy to see him even if they knew he'd probably enter. Misaki decided to clear the matter now.

"He wasn't trying to insult you in your match," Misaki said, making both look at her questioningly. "That guy wanted to motivate Mashiro, so he taunted her as a way to make her try harder."

"But-" Masaya started, but Misaki stopped him.

"He didn't mean to hurt Mashiro's feelings though," Misaki told them.

"And you know all this why?" Mashiro asked her with annoyance.

"I ran into him a few days ago and we talked," Misaki said. "Don't worry, he's actually nice. We even had a match."

"You did?" Masaya asked as he looked at the boy.

"Hold on a minute!" Mashiro said in annoyance at Misaki. "Why did you wait until now to tell us this!?"

She was growling for once at Misaki. "Seeing how much he 'upset' the both of you, I thought it would serve as strong motivation for you to get stronger," Misaki clarified uncaringly.

They then looked at Asuka and the boy.

The guy was standing far away from everyone else at a tree with his arms folded and his eyes closed. He was actually enjoying the wind blow, hence he had closed eyes to enjoy the moment. His lips had a smile to further this. Hearing footsteps, he opened his eyes, only to show surprise at who was before him.

"You're Asuka!" he said with realization, and a bit of emotion. "What are you doing over here?"

"I'm entering the tournament, as are my friends," Asuka said in a friendly voice.

"Is that so?" he asked with little emotion. "That's good to hear."

"But where are your friends? Didn't you come with others," Asuka asked, looking around.

"No, just me," he said to her.

"Then why don't you play on our team?" Asuka asked.

"Huh?" he asked while blinking, not expecting that.

"The way you played before, your speed and strength was so cool!" Asuka innocently complimented with a smile.

"Cool you say," he said in surprise. "Thanks, but I can't. Already registered as just myself. And even if I didn't, I prefer to play alone."

"I see," Asuka said understanding. "I'll cheer you on!"

"Thank you," he said in a friendly voice, finding her to be a rather comfortable person to talk to. "Well, I better head over to my section for preparations. Let's meet in the tournament and give it our all."

"Yes!" Asuka said all bubbly while he smiled back at her.

After the guy left, Mashiro yelled. "How long are you going to stay over there!?" she yelled, exasperated by Asuka just doing whatever she wants anytime.

After walking over, Misaki asked. "What were you two talking about?" she asked curiously.

"He entered the tournament as just himself and wished me good luck," Asuka said.

"Just himself!?" Masaya asked in shock.

"Why alone?" Mashiro asked.

"I don't know," Asuka said, not sure as well.

"In any case," Misaki said. "We should get to our section."

"Oh right," Mashiro said remembering.

"You're all in different sections," Masaya started. "Asuka is in G, Misaki in C, and Mashiro in A."

"What about you?" Madoka asked.

"I'm not playing for my own reasons," Masaya said. "Anyway, good luck guys."

Once the tournament begun, everyone went to the section of the first match, as each match does not happen all at once. The first match was the guy, who's name on the board read "Towa", and a random girl FC player.

"That's a first! Towa, representing Kunahama school, entered the tournament by himself, but can he win his way through the tournament alone with no team or coach!?" Minori declared in surprise.

"Towa," Asuka said now knowing his name.

"From our school?" Madoka wondered. "Why didn't he join us then?"

"That guy is crazy!" some people said.

But Misaki knew the joke was on them. Shindou and Satou were present, having entered, and Shindou was puzzled why someone would enter alone.

"What is he thinking, acting all tough!" Satou assumed with her hands on her hips.

Shindou wasn't as assuming as her. He knew better than to underestimate people. He didn't know what this Towa could do after all.

"Now, both contestants prepare themselves!" Minori declared as they both got ready at the starting point.

The time went down from three to zero, followed by a person above between the two yelling "Go!".

Towa and the girl begin flying, but Towa easily flys ahead of his opponent.

"Towa, our lone challenger has taken a significant lead!" Minori declared.

"He's quick!" the girl opponent said.

"You can't catch up to him, go for a shortcut," her coach said.

So she did as told and did so. But before she even made it close to the buoy, Towa already was closing in on it. The girl did her best to block him, but he effortlessly evaded her and then scored a point on her back, raising him up to two points while the girl had zero.

"Why you!" she yelled, doing her best to charge at him, but he swipped her away and proceeded to touch the buoy for a third point.

"Boring!" he said under his breath, unsatisfied.

He then went forward and easily scored the rest by touching buoys. A few times Minori would say the current scores to keep others up to speed.

"Winner, Towa!" Minori declared. "With an overwhelming score of eighteen to his opponent's three points, Towa moves onto the next round."

"Is it so wrong for me to want better opponents?" Towa asked himself.

The girl wasn't bad by any means, it's just that she wasn't much of a challenge either. He wasn't trying to be arrogant, but it was frustrating facing someone that was just not up to speed with you. But maybe he was jumping the gun, it was just the first round, so the opponents shouldn't be expected to be that strong. He liked playing, it was just he didn't find it fun winning easily against some people even though that's something he should expect like anyone.

"What do you think?" Satou asked Shindou.

"Hmm, not sure just yet," Shindou said with narrowed eyes.

If it were a normal player they would think that's his best, but he could tell Towa wasn't taking the match seriously from the start. Shindou smiled in interest, it seems this Towa might be a good opponent. As Towa landed on the ground and attempted to leave, Asuka called out to him, causing him to face her with curiosity. Her other friends were also with her.

"Hmm?" Towa asked.

"Congratulations!" Asuka said in a happy voice.

Towa was taken aback by this, but smiled. "Thanks, do good in yours," he said nicely.

He then left while Asuka smiled.

"Hold it!" Mashiro called out to him, to which he stopped and turned back around.

He was a bit nervous, expecting her to chew him out. Before he could attempt to apologize like he wanted, Mashiro spoke.

"You really fooled me and Masaya-senpai," Mashiro said exasperatedly. "Pretending to be mean in order to push me to do better."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Towa apologized.

"Don't worry about it, we now know you didn't mean any harm," Masaya said with a smile.

"I see, that makes me feel a lot better now," Towa said with some happy emotion in his voice. "Later."

After leaving Misaki spoke. "See? He's nice," she said in a friendly voice.

Just then they heard the intercom announce Misaki to play next.

A/N: I know that in the anime there's often that "Point (insert name)" by someone else, but I think we can all agree it would be annoying reading the same precise dialog from a character near everytime a person got a point. On top of that, Minori is the one who commentates the matches in the show, so she should have been the one mentioning the scores to begin with.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

The next match had just finished. Misaki faced a weak girl opponent, and won the match with ease.

"Winner, Tobisawa!" Minori declared.

Towa stood near their team booth observing. "As expected, she's got even better," Towa said impressed. "But, her next opponent could be trouble."

Misaki landed down to her friends. "Good job, Misaki," Masaya said.

"It's too bad my opponent wasn't that good," Misaki said.

"It is the first rounds, so it's not surprising," Madoka said.

"Misaki-senpai already won hers, so it's my turn!" Mashiro said fired up.

"Yeah," Masaya said.

"But before that, how long are you going to stand outside of our team's booth?" Misaki asked Towa, who looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

He had been outside of it watching her match, but stayed out of the booth since he didn't have permission to enter it. Plus he felt a bit shy.

"Come on in," Misaki invited in a nice tone of voice while smiling.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be any trouble," Towa said trying to be polite.

"It's no problem," Asuka told him in an inviting voice, wanting him to join them.

"Alright," Towa said with slight emotion.

Asuka was very happy to hear that. As she looked at him, he stared with wonderment. From the start this girl was so kind. Perhaps he felt comfortable around Asuka that he wanted to stay for that reason. Smiling back, he stepped into their team booth but stayed fairly away from them.

'Hmm, now I see,' Misaki thought in amusment as she pieced together the fact Towa seemed to have a soft spot for Asuka. 'But he seems shy when around a lot of people.'

"Mashiro, ready?" Masaya asked, looking at her.

"Mmm," she said with confidence. "But if I win, can we spend some time alone later tonight?"

The last part she added in a seductive voice. Masaya's cheeks flushed red as he attempted to speak while Towa made an "Eh" sound as he stared at Mashiro with sweat.

"I-I got it, if you win!" Masaya managed to get out. "For now, concentrate on your opponent."

"Yes!" Mashiro said in a cheerful voice and then flew up to the starting point.

"Geez that girl," Masaya said rubbing his hair with a hand.

"What are you complaining about?" Misaki teased. "Don't you want some private time with your lover?"

"Anyway, I have a match to focus on!" Masaya said in annoyance while blushing and putting on the earphone piece.

"Oh, I got here on time," Aoi said walking over.

"Kagami-sensei," Masaya said.

"So it's Mashiro's turn, huh," Aoi said, and then noticed Towa standing somewhat away from them with his arms crossed. "Who are you? This is our team's booth."

"What's the harm? We invited him to," Misaki said matter of factly.

"You guys did?" Aoi asked, and then pieced something. "Now I get it, you're Towa, the person who entered by himself."

"That's right," Towa said politely.

"Well, I don't see an issue if the others are fine with it," Aoi said in a friendly voice before turning up.

Elsewhere some ways away from the booths, Satou, Rika, and Shindou were watching by simply looking up where the two challengers were.

"Now, let's see if Mashiro-san has regained her passion," Shindou said with folded arms.

"I hope so," Satou said with some worry.

"She'll be fine," Rika said, smiling.

Back at the booths, everyone looked up. A computer was near both coaches as usual. Towa played alone, so the computer served to him no purpose in the tournament.

Mashiro and the girl got into position. Once the counter reached zero, a person standing above the two signaled for them to take off.

"Oh my, the Speeder Mashiro is wasting no time and quickly makes her way to the first buoy!" Minori declared.

"Oh," Towa uttered, impressed that she's improved. 'She's much faster than she was back then. Good job, Mashiro.'

"Taking a shortcut!" the other girl said, and then readied to block Mashiro. "I won't let you pass here!"

"Mashiro, do it!" Masaya told her in a happy confident voice once she touched the first buoy to get a point.

"Roger!" Mashiro said as she made a ball out of herself by folding herself and spinning. "Behold, the one and only, Mashiro bowling ball!"

"A what!?" the other girl asked before Mashiro shortly after rolled past her with ease. "Shoot!"

"What was that!?" Misaki asked.

"Mashiro bowling ball," Masaya stated.

"A 'Mashiro bowling ball'?" Towa asked with a sweat drop.

"It's a move where you put all your strength and speed into spinning yourself in a ball shape," Masaya started. "Since she's so light weighted, this ups her speed as she spins. The usual result is you would spin out of control due to spinning everywhere with your Grav-Shoes, but Mashiro managed to keep and master complete control while in that manuver. It's her own original move she created."

Towa made a noise of awe. "She must have trained pretty hard to do that," he said as he watched.

"She had a pretty rough start when she tried though," Masaya said, remembering her uncontrollable spinning with the Sonic Boost alone.

"Mashiro-chan," Asuka said, smiling.

"If it's come to this, I'll just score points on your back!" Mashiro's opponent continued.

"She's got this," Madoka said, confident in Mashiro.

The girl desperately tried to touch Mashiro's back, but Mashiro evaded each attempt. Her evasion speed Towa noted had also got much better. Using her light body weight more effectively this time, it increased her reaction time and flexibility. Mashiro then put an end to it by hitting her back multiple times.

"I'm not the same as back in the last tournament!" Mashiro declared with the final blow.

"Winner, Mashiro!" Minori declared.

As the others clapped for her performance, Towa too clapped. Shindou smiled, glad to see Mashiro soaring again.

"When did she get this good?" Satou asked, impressed.

"Hinata-kun has been training her recently," Shindou said. "She's determined to face that person who almost made her quit again."

"I wonder who that is," Satou pondered. "Hard to believe an arrogant person like that wouldn't be here."

"True," Shindou said in agreement.

'Mashiro, way to go,' Rika thought, standing next to the two.

Mashiro went to the ground near her friends.

"You did good," Masaya praised her.

"Tehee!" Mashiro said with a grin.

Asuka then proceeded to her match and won with no trouble at all.

"Now we're all still in!" Misaki said in confidence.

"You should be worried about yourself at the moment," Irina told Misaki as she approached the group. "Your next opponent is not going to be easy."

"My next opponent?" Misaki asked before realizing who was before her. "Irina!"

"The person you will face next is Saki," Irina said with a friendly unarrogant voice.

"Inui-san!" Asuka said, happy to see her again.

"Kurashina...Asuka," Saki said in an emotionless voice.

"Prepare yourself! I'll pay you back for that defeat from before!" Misaki said with confidence and a fist held out.

"So you entered as well after all," Masaya said.

"Yeah," Irina said. "Plus Saki wanted to play against you guys again."

"Against us?" Asuka asked with interest.

"She hasn't had a good challenge since back then," Irina said before turning to Towa. "Towa was it?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"Why did you enter this tournament by yourself?" Irina asked him with narrowed eyes, curious. "Don't you have a team?"

"Yeah, you come from our school right?" Madoka asked as he became a bit withdrawn. "So why didn't you join our team?"

"...I just prefer to play alone," Towa finally said with a subtle hint of loneliness, which Misaki did not miss.

"I see, but it's kinda sad, you playing by yourself," Irina noted. "I guess you're not liked by others."

"Shut up! What do you know about me!?" Towa snapped as his emotions begun building up greatly, the others taken aback by his outburst, but he realized his outburst. "Sorry."

"Towa?" Asuka asked in concern, Misaki concerned as well.

"Irina, you went too far!" Saki scolded her in a somewhat annoyed tone of voice. "You may have been teasing, but that was pretty insensitive."

"Right, I'm sorry," Irina said feeling bad.

Towa didn't answer and left, clearly upset. Asuka looked in his direction with concern as he jumped out of their area and left. The others were concerned about him too. After a moment Asuka left in Towa's direction. Misaki was going to go after him, but refrained on seeing Asuka already on it.

Meanwhile Towa walked over to a tree, and sat down to calm himself down.

"Towa," Asuka asked gently with concern clear in her voice.

Towa looked up. "Oh, it's just you," he said in relief, although stressed.

Sitting next to him, she asked. "Are you okay?" Asuka asked with a concerned face.

"A little better," Towa said.

"Why do you prefer being alone?" Asuka asked quietly.

"I...no I don't want to talk about it," Towa said with a sad expression.

"That's okay, I don't want to force you to," Asuka said kindly.

Even now Towa felt his emotions relax. There was something about this girl he couldn't explain, but it wasn't a bad feeling he was feeling. After the two sat together quietly for a few moments, Asuka spoke up.

"Hey, let's go back, and cheer Misaki on," Asuka encouraged.

Towa smiled. "Yeah," he said getting up.

"Alright, our next match is an interesting one!" Minori declared. "Tobisawa who lost to her before, will face Inui! Which of these two will win this time? Stay tuned to find out!"

Misaki and Saki fly up to the starting point.

"Now, you better be ready for more zipzapping!" Misaki declared with confidence.

"Yes," Saki said with a friendly voice.

Just then Asuka and Towa make their way back in the booth. "It's just starting," Towa said as he and Asuka looked up at the two competitors.

"Misaki-chan," Asuka said.

A person hovering above the two challengers made a noise to signal the start.

"Now, both contestants race neck and neck for the first buoy!" Minori declared.

Saki turned around and quickly swiped her away before going on and getting the first buoy. But true to Misaki, she quickly charged her again like a wild animal.

"Saki, initiate Birdcage Disruption," Irina ordered.

"Roger!" Saki responded and begun preventing Misaki from advancing any further.

"That's..." Masaya started.

"Holy cow, Inui is using a move we are all too familier with!" Minori declared with a clenched fist. "Her infamous Birdcage! How will Tobisawa deal with it this time?"

"Okay Saki, score to your hearts content," Irina said somewhat seriously.

"Yes!" Saki replied.

Saki begun moving around Misaki to the point Misaki was unsure about making a move.

"Use an airkick turn and get out of there!" Masaya ordered.

"I know!" Misaki said, but her attempt was blocked by Saki moving above her. "There's, no way out!"

"Now it's my turn!" Saki said.

While Misaki was focused on how or when she would strike, Saki disrupted any planning and scored a few points, raising the current score up to four, leaving Misaki with zero.

"Now I see," Towa said with folded arms.

"Saki uses the Birdcage as a means to distract her opponent, and then moves in to score points by touching their back," Masaya said. 'To think they refined it this quick!'

"It seems they modified their Birdcage to a more fun oriented way," Aoi said, pleased with that.

"Inui-san," Asuka said with a smile.

"Go for it Misaki-senpai!" Mashiro cheered on.

As Saki tried to get a fifth point, Misaki smirked and knocked her away.

"How!?" Saki asked in surprise.

"I was watching how you moved that whole time and studying how you attack!" Misaki said. "Your new Birdcage is trouble, but not with me!"

Misaki went on the aggresive and knocked her off balance and scored a point to Saki's back. She then kept up the pace and scored more points. Now it was three to four. Indeed, Misaki was much improved since their last encounter.

"There you have it, Tobisawa has turned this around and scored points!" Minori said.

"Saki, no more holding back, it could get bad if you do," Irina ordered with a serious voice.

Saki complied and touched a switch on her Grav-Shoes.

"Balancers, unlock!" Saki yelled.

"There it is," Madoka said.

"This gave Asuka a hard time," Towa said as he remembered the previous tournament.

"Yeah," Asuka said. "She's really great."

"She is," Towa said, but smiled knowing Misaki wasn't going all out; for she had yet to unlock her balancers. "But Misaki is as well."

"Misaki, unlock them!" Masaya ordered while Misaki smiled at this and spoke to Saki.

"You and Asuka aren't the only ones who can do that anymore!" Misaki said with a confident smile.

Saki gasped. "What!?" Irina said in shock.

Misaki's balancers unlocked, she too prepared to get serious.

"But does she have mastery over it?" Irina asked.

That was answered in seconds, Misaki flew at incredible speeds with perfect control. Saki went after her. Misaki took advantage of her relentless style in this speed, which proved very hard for Saki to deal with. Misaki scored two points, putting her in the lead above Saki.

"Awesome, these two are trying their best to score!" Minori declared. "Inui is trying, but she's being overwhelmed!"

"Abandon the Birdcage Disruption, it won't work now," Irina ordered. "Have a good time Saki."

Saki smiled. "Roger!" she said.

Although Saki had trouble, now that she switched to her other style of trying to score points the old classic way, it was giving Misaki a run for her money.

"The both of them are pretty incredible," Towa said watching them with a happy expression.

"They're having so much fun," Asuka said.

Although Saki tried, after a bit more struggle, Misaki managed to score enough points to win.

"Winner, Tobisawa!" Minori declared. "After an intense match, Tobisawa will move on to the next round!"

Saki panted, tired. "That was a good match, I'll challenge you as many times as you want me too!" Misaki proudly said.

Saki nodded with a smile. Irina was satisfied to have a fun match. Both then flew back down, Saki to Irina and Misaki to the others.

"You were great!" Asuka praised her.

"I'm tired after that," Misaki said.

"After a match that intense, who wouldn't be," Masaya said understandingly.

"Right, you were like pow!" Mashiro proclaimed with a dramatic bonk motion.

"Do you feel better?" Misaki asked Towa, worried still about him snapping earlier.

"Yeah, sorry for that," Towa apologized.

"Don't worry, it's all good," Misaki said, happy to see him feeling better.

"Are you sure you have the time to relax?" Shindou's voice came in as they saw him by the booth.

"Shindou-san," Masaya said.

"You're Towa," Shindou said with interest.

"That's right," Towa said politely.

"Your next opponent will be me," Shindou said as his face turned serious with a confident smile.

Towa gasped in surprise. "I'm facing you!?" he asked.

"That is correct. I just came to give you greetings, our match is tommorow," Shindou said before leaving. "I look forward to it."

After Shindou left, Towa begun to sweat, worried that he may not be good enough against Shindou.

"I didn't think I would face him so early," Towa said, nervous.

"Don't think you'll have it easy," Misaki said. "Take it from me, that guy is pretty strong."

"Yeah," Towa said in agreement. "But, I have to try."

"Even so, we should all take a break," Aoi said. "Towa, although you're not on our team, you can hang out with us if you want," Aoi invited.

"Really?" Towa asked with surprise.

"That would be a great idea!" Asuka said with excitement to Towa's surprise.

"She's right," Misaki said agreeing with them and having a friendly expression like the others.

After a few moments, Towa answered with a smile. "Alright, I'll come," he answered with a bit of happy emotion in his voice.

That delighted Asuka who clasped her hands together. Mashiro then grabbed Masaya.

"Remember, a deals a deal," Mashiro said in a flirty voice and grin.

"I know," Masaya said as his cheeks went red and he went off alone with her.

"I've been wanting to ask, but what's going on with those two?" Towa asked, not getting it.

"They got together a few weeks ago," Misaki said watching them leave.

"Is that so?" Towa asked in surprise as he watched them leave, but then begun worrying again about his match with Shindou. 'Can I really beat him?'


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

Since Masaya and Mashiro left on their own to be alone, Towa was with the others as they walked away from the tournament.

"We all managed to make it this time without anyone losing," Misaki said.

"The last time Mashiro beat Ichinose, but she lost in the next round in the same day," Madoka said.

"Yes," Asuka said before turning to Towa. "By the way, where do you live?"

"Me?" Towa asked, not expecting that. "I live in that direction."

"Now that I think about it, were you in our classroom all this time?" Madoka asked with a finger near her cheek in thought.

"No, I'm in a different class from the rest of you," Towa answered as they walked.

"But he's got it rough, having to face Shindou-san first thing in the tournament tommorow," Misaki noted while stretching. "Do you have the confidence?"

Towa replied after a few moments. "In truth, I'm pretty nervous," he admitted. "And yet at the same time, I'm excited to have a great match with him, the one they call the 'King of Kings'."

"That guy lives up to that name," Madoka said. "One look at Saki's Birdcage and he already figured out how to do it."

Towa became increasingly nervous about facing him. "Don't worry, you'll do great!" Asuka encouraged while he looked at her in wonderement.

"You think?" Towa asked.

"Yeah, you beat me before, so I think you can do pretty good against him," Misaki said. "Besides, Shindou-san doesn't have a mastery of balancers like we do, so that puts him at a disadvantage."

Aoi's eyes narrowed. She wasn't as sure she agreed with Shindou having not mastered it yet, but she supposed the next match will answer this.

Towa felt a bit relieved to hear that, and it made him feel like he may have a better chance against him. There was no guarantee he'd win, but he felt a bit more confident now about facing him.

"Maybe I'm just overworrying then," Towa said. 'But...I can't shake this uneasy feeling.'

Meanwhile with Masaya and Mashiro. They were sitting by themselves watching the sunset.

"Haaa, so much happened today," Mashiro said, but then took on a seductive look as she loved on Masaya. "But I get to be alone with Masaya-senpai now!"

"You, having me agree to be alone with you as a motivational tool," Masaya said but smiled. "Well, I don't mind it."

Masaya rubbed her head gently while Mashiro enjoyed it with hearts coming out of her head. Afterwards, Mashiro inched her face close to his. Masaya's cheeks started to flare.

"M-Mashiro?" Masaya stuttered.

"Where's the winner's big kiss, hmm?" Mashiro asked in a flirty voice with a seductive smile.

Masaya wanted to make an excuse, but he couldn't ressist it like he wanted to. Readying himself, he closed the gap and pressed his lips onto hers. Mashiro closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the kiss. Masaya wrapped his arms around the girl's back and held her gently. After a bit they parted.

"J-just to say, you are the only person I would do something like that with!" Mashiro stuttered while her hands remained where they were.

"Same here," Masaya said which in turn made her smile.

"Good," Mashiro said taking her hands of him. "If any girl tries to flirt with my boyfriend, I'll let them have it!"

"Or I can simply refuse their advances too," Masaya stated.

"I knew my senpai would defend me!" Mashiro said, loving on him.

"Of course, you are my girlfriend you know," Masaya pointed out, once more rubbing her head, and then looked up at the sun.

Back with Towa and the others, they simply went to a noodle food stand to chill and eat.

"This is delicious!" Asuka said.

"Nothing like a good day's work reward!" Madoka said as she slurped her noodles.

"...You didn't do anything," Misaki cut in with eyes closed and a sweat drop.

Towa blowed on the noodles and then slurped up some. "This is pretty good," Towa said, enjoying it with some emotion in his voice.

"Right," Misaki said.

"It's one of our favorite places to eat," Asuka said. "Have you come here before?"

"I haven't, but now I regret not doing so," Towa said.

"I regret not being able to participate," Madoka's brother suddenly cut in next to Madoka.

"EEEEP!" Madoka yelled in a jolt. "Onii-chan don't scare me like that!"

The others laughed at her. Towa held in laughter by covering his mouth with a clenched hand. They were really nice and fun people. After they finished, they said their goodbyes and left. Just before he flew off, Asuka called out to him and waved goodbye. Towa smiled and waved back before flying off.

The next day, Towa flew to the tournament on his own. As he did, he couldn't help but feel tense. This was it, him vs Shindou. But he also liked it, because it ment he would need to work for the win. Taking a deep breath to relax, he calmly flew to the tournament.

After getting there he went to his booth, as he was going to be in the first match in the second day as well. While he waited, Asuka's image appeared in his mind, as well as her words of encouragment that he'd do great.

"Why am I thinking about her right now?" Towa wondered. "On top of that, why is it making me feel so calm?"

Meanwhile Masaya and co arrived a few minutes later.

"Which section was Towa in?" Mashiro asked.

"He's in G while Shindou is in H," Aoi said.

"So then we'll go over to G," Masaya said.

Arriving, they saw him standing in his booth by himself with his eyes closed and folded arms. Just then Shindou and Satou arrived as well.

"Somehow, he looks nervous," Madoka noted.

"Yeah, he is about to face Shindou," Aoi said. "Most would feel the way he does right now."

"Do you really intend to play against me without a coach?" Shindou asked in a friendly voice from his own booth.

"Yes," Towa said politely.

"Interesting," Shindou said with a grin. "Then let me see it, your strength in this battle."

Towa smiled. "Of course," he said with more emotion.

Just then Minori came on the announcement, ordering the both to go to the starting point, which they did. Satou didn't know what to make of this. They were facing someone who didn't have a coach. It felt not fair coaching Shindou when Towa was participating with no coach to help him, but Satou shook it off, as it is his choice.

"Hold onto your hats folks! Now, the formidable Shindou will face off against our lone challenger, Towa!" Minori declared.

Towa got into position, determined to do his best. Shindou smiled at that and got into position himself.

"Towa, go for it!" Asuka cheered.

He didn't hear her as he tried to keep his nervousness from kicking in.

A person hovering above the two challengers signaled the start of the match, resulting in both players taking off.

"As expected, Shindou starts off with the lead! But our lone challenger Towa keeps a steady pace with him!" Minori yelled out.

While Towa flew next to Shindou, he wondered what Towa was going to do. Trying to time it, Towa tried to touch Shindou's back, but he easily evaded it and used that to touch Towa's back, earning him a point.

"He's much faster than before," Misaki noted.

Satou smiled. 'This is just the start of the President's explosive new strength!' she thought with confidence.

"You have to do better than that!" Shindou told him.

Towa smiled, getting more hyped. "Then how about this!" he yelled.

He flew more agressively and had some even clashes with Shindou.

"That's more like it!" Shindou said as he finally swiped him away and touched the first buoy, earning him yet a second point.

Towa went to the second buoy and waited near it for Shindou. Shindou arrived, and Towa managed to score a point to his back just before taking another shortcut. Now it was Shindou two to Towa's one. However, Towa seemed for a moment to do poor in the clash, hesitant even.

"Something's wrong," Misaki said with worry. "Towa was a lot better against me when we fought back then. What happened?"

"It's obvious," Aoi started as the others looked at her. "He's nervous still. He may be having fun, but he feels not so confident about facing Shindou. If he doesn't overcome his nerves, he will lose. He probably doesn't even realize how nervous he really is."

"No way!" Mashiro exclaimed in shock. "Can't one of us jump in and coach him!?"

"That's out of the question," Aoi said, stopping that idea. "If someone tries to act as coach outside of the registered one, then the person on their team will be disqualified. Since he entered with no coach, he has to do this alone the entire time."

"You're kidding!" Misaki said in panic.

"Towa," Asuka said with worry.

As they continued to clash after Shindou caught up to him, Shindou started to notice how he wasn't performing as good as his first match.

"What are you waiting for President!?" Satou asked. "Stop dragging this out and end it!"

"I can't do that," Shindou said, stopping. "Winning like this, is a way I won't accept."

"What do you mean!?" Satou asked in an annoyed voice.

Shindou didn't answer and started to brutally swipe over and over at Towa. Towa grunted from the relentless assault. Minori was speechless, as were the others. Shindou wasn't even taking any of the chances to touch his back for more points.

"Why is Shindou fighting like that?" Madoka asked.

Masaya had a hunch what he might be trying to do, but he wasn't sure yet.

"P-president!" Satou said, not understanding why he was playing like this.

"How long are you going to keep playing so poorly!?" Shindou asked in anger. "Did you come here just so you could lose!?"

Towa gasped. "Wrong!" he yelled out.

"Then come at me with your best!" Shindou yelled. "If there is any doubts that reside on your mind, close your eyes, relax, and clear them away from you!"

"Close my eyes and relax?" Towa asked with surprise.

"Yes, I'll let you," Shindou said in a calmer voice. "You're nervous about this, facing me. It's making you play worse than you did in the first round."

Satou now understood why Shindou was playing so harshly all of a sudden. In truth she knew Towa wasn't doing as well as his first round. It's not like she couldn't understand Shindou trying to help him overcome his doubts. It would be a waste to win when their opponent isn't trying their best because of self doubt.

"And here I thought I was managing to keep my nerves in check," Towa said, realizing Shindou was right.

"What are they talking about?" Asuka asked.

"I'm not sure," Misaki said. "But it looks serious, whatever it is."

Towa did as instructed, closed his eyes and calmed himself down. It was like Shindou said, he had to let go of any self doubts. A few seconds later, Towa opened his eyes with a determined look as Shindou smiled. Shindou's face got serious as Towa flew at him very quickly, much faster than he has the whole match so far. Towa took him head on and swiped him off balance, then took the chance and touched Shindou's back. This brought the score even, two to two.

"That's it, now you're playing for real!" Shindou said with excitement. "Haaaaa!"

Towa evaded this, but Shindou chained his miss to an airkick turn with a Sonic Boost, allowing him to knock Towa off-guard and score a point. That put Shindou once more back in the lead.

"What!?" Towa said in surprise at this.

"Oh my, Shindou has managed to chain an Air Kick Turn turn with a Sonic Boost!" Minori said. "And with this he's ahead of Towa once again!"

"That guy is pretty scary as always!" Mashiro exclaimed.

"I didn't think he improved this much," Madoka said.

Shindou connected, knocking Towa off balance, but Towa smiled, having fun. Towa then quickly recovered before Shindou could hit his back and performed the same move he did against Misaki, flying backwards underneath someone and then quickly regain balance and touch the person's back before they can react fast enough. That put him back on even points with Shindou. Shindou glared that he missed that shot. Towa used that moment of frustration to get behind him and touch his back again. Now the score was Towa four to Shindou's three.

"The lone challenger Towa is not letting up! With his quick thinking, he has taken the lead from Shindou!" Minori said.

Misaki smiled. "It looks like he's no longer nervous!" she noted with a smile.

"That's what Shindou-san was doing," Masaya said as the others looked at him. "He knew Towa was nervous, so he acted like he did to help him overcome that doubt."

"That Shindou-san is more of a softy after all," Misaki said in a teasing way. "But I hope he doesn't regret helping Towa."

Towa tried to go for the third buoy, but Shindou was right on his tail again. Using his speed, he tried to shake off Shindou's chase. But Shindou kept up with him. Realizing this, Towa slowed down so Shindou could almost touch him, then immediately flew away while he recovered from attempting to touch Towa. Shindou grunted, frustrated at another miss.

He then smiled. "Well he is pretty quick," Shindou said in amusement.

Towa got to the third buoy, and after scoring on Shindou once he arrived, went to the buoy and got a sixth point, putting him above Shindou even more. After Towa approached Shindou near the next buoy, Shindou started pulling out more of the stops, performing the Rapter's Strike. This knocked Towa off balance. Shindou attempted to use the chance to touch his back. Towa sweated, and was unable to dodge it despite his efforts to regain his own balance in time. As a result, Shindou touched his back and got another point. This brought Shindou four to Towa's six.

"What's that?" Madoka asked pointing.

"Rapter's Strike," Aoi started. "It's where you run on water very quickly and then you use the speed you built up on it to fly upwards in a psudo straight manner with your hands out in a striking pose."

"Like the cobra?" Misaki asked.

"It's similar yes, but this has more speed and force to it," Aoi said. "Rapter's Strike is also less sneaky compared to the Cobra. I suppose Shindou is being pushed far enough that he feels the need to use it."

Just then Shindou touched the buoy himself, bringing the score up more with him at a five to Towa's six. They then clashed with Towa getting another point.

"He's doing well against Shindou," Mashiro said, cheering him on.

"Yeah," Masaya said. "But the match isn't over yet."

"What are you talking about?" Misaki asked questioningly. "Shindou-san is being beaten. And if this keeps up, it's over for him, right?"

"Masaya's right," Aoi said, as Misaki looked at her in confusion. "Nothing is absolute until the match ends."

"Towa's moves have driven Shindou into a corner!" Minori declared in hype. "Can Shindou recover in time!?"

After a bit more, Shindou started to pant. "President, if you hold it back anymore, this could be really bad!" Satou finally spoke with urgency.

"You're right," Shindou said on alert. "I wanted to save this for Kurashina, Tobisawa, and especially Hinata-kun, but it seems I have no choice."

Catching up to Towa, he blocked his way. "Huh?" Towa asked.

"You've shown it to me, your strength," Shindou said, pleased. "But no more holding back for me!"

Towa gasped as he watched Shindou touch his balancers. "You're not-" Towa started.

"Balancers, unlock!" Shindou yelled as he released it with his hand touching a switch on the Grav-Shoes.

"No way..." Misaki muttered.

"He did master it after all," Aoi said with narrow eyes. "I thought he would."

"Towa, hang in there!" Asuka said with worry.

Masaya sweated, not thinking Shindou mastered them yet.

Towa smiled, puzzling Shindou. "True that you mastered your balancers, but, so have I!" he said.

"Oh!" Shindou said in interest as Towa unlocked his. "Then this will be the climax. Let's go!"

"Of course!" Towa yelled, hyped up.

Both flew at each other, but Shindou not only overpowered him in the dogfight with ease, but scored a point by touching his back with no effort. Towa started to lose confidence, but tried to remain strong as best he could. However, that was dwindling very fast. Towa got desperate, letting Shindou hit his shoulder to give him a boost to the buoy before them. Shindou caught up quick as Towa touched the buoy, and stopped in front of him with a grin.

Satou smirked. 'He's been training very hard after Masaya entered FC again for the day he will face Masaya,' Satou thought. 'This is the result of President's training.'

"Scary!" Madoka said.

"He's like a monster!" Mashiro exclaimed in shock.

"This is..." Masaya said at a loss for words at how much stronger Shindou was.

Asuka became increasingly worried about Towa, as did the others.

Towa even with his full strength couldn't match Shindou's skill. He then tried to put distance between them, as it was too dangerous engaging Shindou anymore. But Shindou caught up and swiped him down.

'No way! I can't even out speed him now!" Towa thought in panic.

Towa tried to move in any direction, but Shindou moved about around him, driving Towa into more doubt.

"You did well to come this far, but this ends now!" Shindou yelled out.

Before Shindou could touch his back to get another point for an even score and get another on top of that to win, the timer stopped the match.

"It's over! Due to time running out, this round is decided!" Minori declared. "The score is Towa at a seven while Shindou has six, therefore the one moving on is our lone challenger Towa!"

"He did it!" Misaki cheered.

But Masaya and Aoi didn't share the same joy as the others. Satou also knew that it was really Shindou who would have won.

Towa stood in the air, shocked by his inability to do good against Shindou with his balancers off. Shindou called out to him, making him look up at him.

"That was a good match," Shindou started. "I could sense you really enjoy FC from the bottom of your heart. But, if I can say something. You won't be able to truly progress if you keep fighting alone. FC's true essence comes from working and being together with others."

Towa gasped. Shindou then flew back to Satou. Towa looked down, as Shindou's words stayed with him.

A/N: I know it is a bit plot-armor having Shindou lose by time running out, but I assure you I won't do that again. This is just a one time thing.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

The match between Shindou and Towa concluded, with Towa winning by time running out. He flew down to his booth.

"That was great!" Asuka praised him outside of the booth.

"Huh, y-yeah," Towa said, keeping his feelings hidden.

"Kagami-sensei," Masaya started in a whisper.

"Yeah," Aoi said, knowing what he was going to say. "You could say luck was on his side."

While they talked with Towa, Satou in the other booth had an annoyed face at Shindou.

"President, you could have won this if you hadn't kept stalling!" Satou scolded him.

"Correct," Shindou looking at Towa. "But beating someone who isn't doing their best is not my style. That type of victory isn't what I'd be happy with. That's why I stalled, to clear his own doubts."

"Geez!" Satou conceded. "But he seems to be getting along with them."

"I agree, but," Shindou started. "The rest is up to him."

"What do you mean? President!" Satou said as he walked out of his booth away.

Shortly after, Asuka, Mashiro and Misaki all completed their daily matches. But Towa seemed noticeably quiet, more than normal. So after their wins, they finally confronted him about this.

"Are you feeling okay?" Misaki asked.

"What?" Towa asked.

"Well, you've been really quiet," Madoka said with worry. "Ever since your match with Shindou."

"Yes, I'm fine," Towa said, though his voice had a hint of depress to it, which Misaki didn't miss, nor did Aoi or Masaya.

"Say, why don't you practice with us?" Mashiro suggested.

"With you guys?" he asked in surprise.

"That'd be great!" Asuka said bubbly while he looked at her with surprise at how excited she was about him joining them.

"Yeah, you already fought me in a practice match, so why not join us?" Misaki suggested.

"Well, okay," Towa conceded.

So they went to their practice area, but Towa looked reluctant about playing. However, he quickly removed any signs of this to not worry the others. Asuka wanted to face him, and she was very happy about it.

"Let's do our best!" Asuka said cheerfully.

"Y-yes!" Towa said, trying to surpress his feelings.

Once given the go ahead, they both flew. But it became quickly apparent that Towa wasn't doing too good. Even though he tried his best to play like normal, his emotions begun to affect his moves.

"What's going on?" Misaki asked with worry.

Aoi narrowed her eyes knowingly. Masaya also had an idea what it was.

After the match they landed down to the others. Towa couldn't hold back his depression.

"What's the matter?" Madoka asked with concern in her voice.

"I, sorry, but I just don't feel like practicing right now," Towa said and walked away with a sad look.

Aoi walked up to the group while he left.

"Sensei," Mashiro said.

"His heart wasn't in this," Aoi started. "He's thinking about his match with Shindou, and how much he couldn't hold his own against him with the balancers unlocked."

"What are you talking about? He only did bad at first because he was nervous," Misaki said, not getting it.

"You're right, he was nervous, and did better after overcoming that," Aoi continued. "But once Shindou did his best, Towa was completely powerless to do anything against him. Regaining confidence in yourself, only to realize you never stood a chance against the person you were facing is a big shock. I can only imagine how depressed he feels. Tobisawa, you must know more than any of us how he feels. You've been through something like this before."

"Towa must have been doing his best till now to surpress how he was feeling," Masaya said.

"...Towa," Asuka muttered very worried with glazing eyes.

Misaki was about to go after him. Hearing that made her think back to how she felt when she realized Shindou wasn't doing his best against her, only to see it when he faced Asuka. But it must be even worse with Towa, because he already had doubts for part of the match, and after regaining confidence is easily delt with by Shindou going full strength. Misaki understood how he must feel. As she was starting to move to go after him, Asuka ran forward and flew ahead of everyone, as Towa flew away. Misaki left it in Asuka's hands.

Meanwhile Towa found a place at the sea in a different location. Sitting down, he thought back.

Flashback:

"Towa, you'll do great!" Asuka encouraged him.

"How long do you plan to keep playing so poorly!?" Shindou asked. "Did you come here just to lose!?"

"I can sense you love FC from the bottom of your heart but, you won't truly get stronger if you keep playing alone," Shindou told him. "FC's true essence comes from working together and being with others."

End of flashback.

Towa stared at the sun with a visibly sad expression, before lowering his head and resting it on his knees. His eyes snapped open after hearing Asuka's voice behind him. Turning around, it was indeed Asuka, and she looked really worried.

"Asuka," Towa said with little emotion as she sat next to him. "What is it?"

"Are you thinking about your match with Shindou-san?" Asuka asked gently while his quick blink confirmed it.

"A lot of things," Towa said as he looked at the sky.

Towa suddenly started speaking again. "My, so-called friends I've ever tried to befriend, used me," he said.

"No way!" Asuka said in shock.

"That's not all," Towa continued. "I was always treated like someone who doesn't belong. I would always be told of even by teachers that I was weird for preffering to be alone. They didn't understand my reasons and tried to force me to be friends with others. Even one time when I really believed that I made friends with someone, in the end they were just like all the others. So I decided from then on to never be friends with anyone again-I grew scared of getting close to others. Some time later, that's when I found FC. I loved the idea of flying with Grav-Shoes and the sport itself, and sure enough I started playing and it was so much fun. On top of that, I felt free, unbounded by all of my frustrations. FC was what freed me from that life I had before. I love FC with all my heart."

"Towa," Asuka said in astonishment. "Me too, I really love FC!"

That made him smile.

"But you know," he said. "Whenever I would see you guys, I would be curious. You guys always had so much fun. Even though many love FC, something about you guys just really interested me, but I never walked up and chatted with you before. But, when I saw Mashiro training with Masaya and how hard she tried, I stepped in and tried to help her because I wanted to help out in some way. I thought that would be the end of it, but then I eventually encountered Misaki on my way home. We talked and had a fun match. And then I met the rest of you. The time I spend with you guys, changed me. I would ask myself 'why was it that I enjoyed your company so much', 'why I hanged out with you all', 'why I was becoming more open around you guys'. I really enjoyed being in your company, especially you, Asuka."

"Me?" Asuka asked with curiosity.

"Whenever I'm around you, I feel calm and soothed," Towa said. "You really are a very kind person."

"No no, I'm not that nice," Asuka said a bit flustered, but Towa shook his head.

"Wrong, you are," Towa said while smiling. "You, really intrigued me. Even at the previous tournament I was fascinated by you. You were always beaming brightly with such kindness, and the way you played was great."

"I-is that right?" Asuka begun to stutter as her cheeks felt warm.

"Mmm," Towa said, smiling at her. "Being with you and the others, I realized, maybe I really did want to trust in someone one more time. When I think about it now, you could say I was even running away from bonds itself until I got involved with you guys."

Towa's cheeks went red for the first time after realizing how much he just spoke from his heart. He just started, and then he kept letting out more and more.

Asuka got it. The reason he wants to be alone is because he's afraid of getting close to others anymore as a friend, but he deeply loves FC from the bottom of his heart, and he's grown to care about her and her friends. Asuka held out a hand to him.

"What?" he asked, confused by the action.

"Let me be your first true friend then," Asuka said with a sincere smile.

Towa stared at her in amazement. He could tell she was serious, not faking it. He was hesitant about this, but this girl was so sincere from the very start. Her eyes shined with sincerity too, she was that sweet of a girl. Slowly moving his hand to hers with some pauses, he finally resolved and grabbed her hand.

"I, one more time, I'll try again," Towa gently said with the sincerest of smiles.

Somehow he felt even if he tried to refuse, he would have still accepted it. There really was something special about this girl to him. It was probably the most happy he's felt with someone else in who knows how long. Not to say he didn't enjoy the rest of the group's company, but he felt something stronger with Asuka.

Asuka smiled with her mouth open while her eyes glazed, very happy he was willing to trust her as the wind blew around them.

"Hey, do you want to go back and practice?" Asuka asked him.

"I..." Towa said reluctantly.

"Let's get stronger, together!" Asuka exclaimed happily with her eyes closed.

Towa looked at her in astonishment, but smiled. "Alright," he said with happy emotion to his voice.

After getting back to the practice area, Asuka and Towa immediately flew to the starting point.

"W-what's going on?" Madoka asked as the others wondered the same.

"Are they going to play again?" Masaya wondered.

Back at the starting area. "Let's have a blast!" Asuka said bubbly.

"'Have a blast'?" Towa asked but understood what she meant. "You're right, let's give it our all!"

"Yes!" Asuka beamed cheerfully.

They both then flew off, but everyone noticed something as they exchanged blows.

"He's, having fun," Madoka said with a smile.

"Yeah," Aoi said in a gentle kind voice. "He's regained his courage to fly it seems."

"I wonder what Asuka-senpai talked about with him," Mashiro wondered.

"Hmm, well no one knows but those two," Misaki said and then smiled. "But, I'm glad to see him feeling better."

"Got you!" Asuka said in a fun voice, but he evaded and hit her back, only for her to hit his back afterwards. "This is why I can never quit FC!"

"Yeah, me neither, something this fun!" Towa declared with excitement, then thought to himself as he and Asuka clashed while on their way to a buoy. 'Shindou, I got it, I finally understand the meaning of your words. It's just as you said. And, I'll get stronger, together with my new friends.'


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

It was next morning with the gang flying to the tournament. Towa ran into them on their way there, so he was flying with them. He stayed close to Asuka, which Misaki noticed. Misaki's attention was then drawn to a panicked Mashiro.

"What's wrong?" Asuka asked.

"I have to face Satou!" Mashiro said in a comical fright.

"Don't worry," Masaya encouraged. "It's different than before, right?"

"He's right, you have been training really hard," Madoka said. "Even that Satou must be worried about facing you."

"Don't underestimate Satou," Misaki warned. "That girl is pretty good, and she's not called a 'Drill Sergeant' for nothing. Don't forget you've lost to her everytime as well."

"True, but I believe in Mashiro," Masaya said looking at her. "If things get bad, use 'that'."

Mashiro nodded. "'That'?" Towa wondered in curiosity, as did the others.

"Something I prepared for when I face you," Mashiro said in a friendly voice. "I won't lose to Satou, because I want to face you again."

According to the board schedule, Towa would face whoever wins in Mashiro's match with Satou.

"Mashiro, same here," Towa said in a friendly tone as well. "I want to face you once more, and give it my all!"

"He's, more open and less reserved," Misaki gently said, happy about this. 'Asuka, you must have opened his heart up.'

She gained an amused expression on seeing him and Asuka looking at each other and smiling. Out of them all, he really seemed to like Asuka the most. Misaki was starting to wonder if he might like Asuka. He certainly stuck next to her the most.

After getting to the tournament, they had a few minutes before the match. Mashiro put on her yellow FC gear.

"Yes, ready for launch!" Mashiro dramatically proclaimed.

"Oh, you're pretty fired up," Satou's voice rang out.

"It's her!" Mashiro stated in comical fright, grabbing Masaya.

"Your next opponent is yours truly, ahahahahah!" Satou dramatically said as the others sweat dropped.

"Mashiro," Rika greeted nicely.

"Rika!" Mashiro said, happy to see her.

"Unfortunately we won't be facing each other, since I'll be facing Tobisawa," Rika said.

"You best be prepared for some zipzapping!" Misaki proclaimed.

"I hope you realize, but you're nicknamed 'the zipzapping girl' by some people," Shindou said, who was with them. "But that's fitting, you have an electrifying style of play."

He then noticed Towa among the group. "Did you realize it?" Shindou asked him.

"Yes," Towa said in a grateful voice.

"That's good," Shindou said. "But, what are you going to do? You still have to keep playing this tournament with no coach."

"I d-don't mind my friends staying in my booth to support me," Towa said as his cheeks flushed red.

"Now I see, if you can't have a coach in this tournament, the next best option is your friends in your booth to support you," Shindou said in thought.

"I'll be facing you, Towa as payback for Shindou losing because of the timer!" Satou pointed at him as he tensed.

"That won't happen!" Mashiro started, prompting Satou to look at her. "Because you won't be beating me!"

"Oh, you've got guts standing up to me like that despite having never beaten me," Satou said cocky-like. "No doubt you've gotten better, but so have I."

Mashiro narrowed her eyes, as did Satou. The two had an intense stare down, before Satou gained a calm expression.

"Very well, show me just how much stronger you've got in our upcoming match," Satou said. "Of course, I will show you mine too. Ahahahaha!"

She left with Rika, but Shindou remained for a moment because he had something to say.

"You better have got a lot stronger," Shindou started with confidence. "Because Satou-kun hasn't been lazing around either."

He then left. "What is with that guy, acting so sure?" Mashiro asked in annoyance.

Masaya narrowed his eyes, knowing Shindou wasn't fibbing. It came time, with Towa and the others in the booth, while Masaya stood near Mashiro.

"Are you ready for this?" Masaya asked her.

"Yes!" Mashiro said with resolve. "I won't lose, and give it my best!"

"That's good," Masaya said as he and Mashiro smiled at each other.

Meanwhile in Satou and Shindou's team booth. "I don't know if Mashiro has done her best yet or not, but don't underestimate her," Shindou warned.

In truth, Satou was actually a bit worried about facing Mashiro despite her tough front earlier. She really was a lot better than before. Satou may have trained as well, but for the first time, it seemed Mashiro was going to be an actual challenge. Satou smiled at this.

As the others cheered Mashiro on, Mashiro took flight to the starting point, as did Satou.

"Now, Satou will face Mashiro!" Minori declared. "After an unexpected loss from Shindou so early, can Satou carry on her team?"

Mashiro got into position, determined. Satou smirked and got into position herself. Masaya and Shindou were on standby in their coach positions on ground, each ready to talk to their member.

As usual, a person hovering above the two signaled for it to start, resulting in them flying forward.

"Mashiro heads to the first buoy at a very fast speed!" Minori said. "And she goes extra with a Sonic Boost!"

"Heh, she's even more on the aggressive than usual," Misaki noted.

"I think it's because she's that determined to win against Satou," Aoi said.

Satou knew already that she couldn't take her on in a race, so she went for a shortcut before Shindou even said so. Satou decided to try blocking her at the next halfway after the second buoy. Right now they both had one point.

Mashiro tried zigzagging, but Satou caught her. "Got you!" Satou yelled, throwing Mashiro off balance. "Basics don't work on me! Have you already forgotten!?"

"Mashiro, do your bowling ball!" Masaya ordered.

"Roger!" Mashiro responded, and curled herself up into a ball.

"That move," Satou started, remembering it from her first round.

"Mashiro, bowling ball!" Mashiro yelled fiercely.

"I won't let you past here!" Satou yelled, and attempted to hit her, but it only made Mashiro ricochet off and spin at her again while the impact made Satou fly off balance. "No way!"

Mashiro then uncurled herself and hit Satou's back. The score was now two to one.

"And with that Mashiro bowling ball, she has taken the lead from Satou!" Minori declared.

"Yes, that's the way!" Masaya praised her.

"Alright!" Asuka yelled in excitement.

"She never ceases to amaze us," Towa said in agreement.

"Good work Mashiro," Misaki said with a smile.

"I can't believe it!" Satou said in a mix of annoyance and astonishment at Mashiro getting the edge over her in a dogfight.

As Mashiro flew to the next buoy and got a third point, Satou quickly headed for yet another shortcut. Mashiro was fast enough that she could not waste any time.

Once Mashiro approached her, Satou swiped her, but Mashiro put her arms in front of her to block it. Satou used that moment to move around and touch Mashiro's back. That put Satou at two to Mashiro's three.

"I'm only just starting-!" Satou gasped as her attempt to touch Mashiro's back this second time failed, and Mashiro flew at her quickly from behind.

"Haaaa!" Mashiro yelled fiercely, touching her back for a fourth point.

Satou was speechless as she remained still from the shock while going down.

While Masaya's friends were in high spirits thinking Mashiro has got this, Masaya stayed on alert, as did Aoi.

Shindou spoke. "Satou-kun, if you hold back anymore, this won't turn out well for you," he told her with seriousness and arms folded.

"Satouin President!" Satou scolded in annoyance, but then calmed down and reached for her shoes. "You're right, to think she can push me this much. She really has come a long way from the girl who just stuck to basics."

"That's..." Masaya muttered. "Mashiro be careful!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mashiro asked before looking at Satou, who touched her Grav-Shoes. "No way, is she..."

"Balancers, unlock!" Satou yelled with seriousness.

Shindou smirked. "Unbelievable," Madoka said.

"It's not that surprising," Aoi said. "She is a very skilled player on Shindou's team. Her mastering them is to be expected."

"Mashiro," Misaki said with worry while Towa and Asuka made a noise of worry.

Satou then raced forward at amazingly fast speed. In no time she flew in front of and blocked Mashiro with a smirk after Mashiro just touched the buoy for a fifth point. Now it was five to two.

"During my training with President, I was able to master this level," Satou started. "But, I never would have imagined you would be this strong and force me into using this. You have my respect, Mashiro. However, this is where the match ends!"

Satou flew at and hit Mashiro head on, then used her new level of speed to touch Mashiro's back, bringing the score three to five.

"Not yet!" Satou yelled and hit Mashiro's back quickly two more times, bringing the score five to five.

Satou didn't let up, and flew around as Mashiro tried to keep herself on the defense as much as possible. Because Satou was flying so quickly around her, Mashiro was unable to keep herself facing Satou, leaving her back exposed. In Mashiro's confusion, Satou went above her, and then flew down at Mashiro before Mashiro could react and hit her near to the water. Taking the chance, Satou charged again while Mashiro was flying down with no balance from her hit, and hit Mashiro's back. Now Satou was the one ahead.

"After releasing her balancers, Satou has turned the tides and is in the lead!" Minori declared. "Can Mashiro recover from this overwhelming new level of strength!?"

Mashiro attempted the Mashiro bowling ball, but Satou evaded and flicked her away with so much force it knocked her out of her spin this time. Using that chance, Satou touched her back again, getting the score up to seven to five. Satou then stopped to let Mashiro catch her breath.

"Is that all you have?" Satou asked in a taunting voice while Mashiro panted. "Or do you want to surrender? You're good, but as I thought you can't go beyond this point."

"Mashiro!" Masaya ordered. "It's time, release 'that'!"

Mashiro smiled. "Yes!" she said.

"How can you still smile at a time like this?" Satou asked as Mashiro had her eyes closed. "Are you losing it?"

Mashiro opened her eyes and touched her balancers.

"You're lying...!" Satou started in legit shock.

"Balancers, unlock!" Mashiro yelled out.

"I don't believe it!" Misaki said in awe.

"When we trained alone, just before the day of the tournament, she finally mastered them," Masaya started. "It took a moment to get used to, but she's got it under control now."

Towa smiled. 'You're really amazing, Mashiro,' he thought.

"Mashiro-chan," Asuka said, glad for her.

"She mastered them?" Rika said in astonishment, standing near Shindou.

"This just got more interesting," Shindou said in a friendly voice. "Don't you think so?"

Satou didn't respond, but smirked, indicating she was impressed. "You're really something," Satou said in acknowledgment. "Then I'll face you with everything I have!"

"Here I go!" Mashiro yelled and charged at her.

The two collided, then flew upwards. Mashiro was actually quicker than Satou and touched her back, bringing the score six to seven. Satou didn't give up and tried to move in a worm fashion to confuse her, but Mashiro was too fast and touched her back again, bringing the score to a tie.

"She's so fast!" Satou said in astonishment, before managing to hit her off balance and score a point to her back, bringing the score to a eight.

Masaya smiled as he watched Mashiro.

Mashiro once more performed her special bowling ball move, curving herself into a ball. Launching at Satou at such a fast speed, Satou put her hands in front of her to try blocking it. But Mashiro was so fast that the sheer force of the impact completely blew Satou away, who had no balance anymore.

"Incredible," Towa said in amazement.

"Way to go, Mashiro," Misaki said while smiling at how far Mashiro has come.

Mashiro touched Satou's back, evening the score again while Mashiro smiled with her mouth open.

"What an incredible turn of events!" Minori started in excitement. "After unleashing her balancers, Mashiro has made a full comeback!"

After Satou got back her balance just in time, the two yelled with full determination as they kept colliding rapidly while flying to another buoy.

"This is insane!" Madoka said in awe.

Shindou smirked. "A match like this fires me up!" he said, getting hyped while Rika was staring up in awe at the two players.

"Th-they're both so..." Towa started, speechless.

"Cool!" Asuka finished in a very happy voice.

'This is the result of your own efforts, Mashiro,' Masaya thought with happiness.

As Mashiro charged at Satou, she managed to get Satou off balance enough that she couldn't move.

'President, it's my loss,' she thought, smiling with her eyes closed, but gained a last minute resolve and opened her eyes back up for a serious look. "No, it's not!"

Using all her strength she re-balanced herself and managed to evade Mashiro touching her back. Charging at Mashiro after an evade, Satou declared victory was hers. But Mashiro, with every ounce of her determination and willpower, evaded to her shock.

"Wrong, it's miiiiine!" Mashiro yelled determinedly and hit her on the back, which shortly after the match was brought to a close, and Satou shocked that she just lost to her.

"W...winner, Mashiro!" Minori declared as the crowds cheered in applause. "After an intense match, Mashiro has defeated Satou and will advance on!"

"She did it!" Asuka yelled in joy.

Mashiro flew down to them, then ran forward and into Masaya's arms.

"I won, Masaya-senpai!" Mashiro said in a happy voice.

"Yeah, you did," Masaya gently, smiling and holding her close. "Congratulations, Mashiro."

Satou flew down to Shindou. "Sorry, President," she apologized. "I couldn't win."

"That's okay," Shindou said. "More importantly, did you have fun against her?"

Satou looked at Mashiro, who was in Masaya's arms and smiled. "I sure did," Satou admitted.

After the gang congratulated Mashiro and chatted, Minori's voice rung in.

"After a short break, Tobisawa will face off against Ichinose!" Minori declared.

Misaki looked at Rika, who stared at her with the same friendly expression.

A/N: I had Wings of Courage in my mind when it came to the part where Mashiro unlocks her balancers all the way to Satou trying to score one last time.


	11. Chapter 11

Discalimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

Misaki and Rika were preparing for a face off. Rika weared a pinkish FC gear, whose color was pink mixed with some white. Shindou's voice then got Rika's attention.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her. "Tobisawa has improved a lot and even mastered her balancers. Furthermore you haven't mastered your balancers yet. Even knowing that, do you still want to face her?"

"Yes!" Rika said. "Even if I'm weaker and likely to lose, I want to do my best and have no regrets."

"As you wish," Shindou told her with a smile.

"I'll praise your courage at least," Satou said, doubting she has what it takes to face Misaki as she is.

Meanwhile in Masaya's team booth. "I wonder how much Rika has improved," Mashiro said in thought.

"Who knows, but Misaki looks ready to go," Masaya said looking at her.

Misaki looked excited, ready to have a good time with Rika. Rika looked at her with determination.

"She looks pretty fired up," Towa commented.

"Yeah, she is facing Tobisawa," Aoi started. "Knowing who she's up against, she's extra determined."

"The question is, can she do very good against Misaki?" Masaya wondered. "We don't know how much she's progressed or improved."

The two flew up to the starting point and got into position. Shindou and Satou didn't look too confident about Rika doing this, but knew she made the choice.

Once a person hovering above the two gave the signal, the two girls flew forward.

"As expected, Tobisawa quickly goes to the first buoy!" Minori declared. "But Ichinose is falling greatly behind!"

"Take a short cut to the next buoy!" Shindou ordered.

"Right!" Rika responded and did as instructed.

After touching the first buoy, Misaki headed towards her opponent. As Misaki approached, Rika stayed still, observing her movements to try finding a way to counter-attack. However, Misaki easily flew past her before Rika could even get close enough to her. Misaki touched the second buoy, putting her at two points to Rika's zero.

"Woah, Tobisawa is wasting no time!" Minori declared. "What will Ichinose do!?"

"No way..." Rika said, but quickly perked up and tried to go after her.

Misaki though was flying faster than her, discouraging her once more.

"I feel sorry for her," Satou said in a sad voice.

Though they trained, Rika hadn't done enough with Shindou due to Shindou training Satou. As such, while improved, she had yet to master her balancers, nor did she have a fairly big improvement.

Shindou tried to think of what he could say to encourage the poor girl, but he couldn't think of anything. He knew the match was over, but he didn't want Rika to lose like this.

"Rika," Mashiro said, feeling bad for her.

As Misaki flew, by this point the score was four to zero due to the buoys she touched. Glancing at a discouraged Rika, who looked ready to give up, Misaki closed her eyes and slowed down.

"Misaki?" Masaya asked.

"I don't like it," Misaki started. "Beating her in this way. I don't want to win if she's in this kind of state."

Misaki came to a total stop, puzzling Rika who caught up to her in a few seconds.

"Why did you stop?" Rika asked, curious.

"Do you remember when you fought me the first time?" Misaki asked, as Rika went "Eh?". "I was doing much better, but did you give up?"

"That's..." Rika started as Misaki gave a sympathetic look.

"You kept trying despite how hopless it may have felt to you," Misaki continued. "Besides, don't you want to do your best? Just like you did against Mashiro."

"Against...Mashiro," Rika said slowly while recalling their match.

"Don't give up," Misaki said encouragingly. "And if you can't win, keep trying and get stronger, just like you did by the time you faced Mashiro."

"Misaki," Rika said in surprise, but then smiled. "You're right."

Rika closed her eyes as her emotions settled down. Opening them up, she looked determined and charged at Misaki full force. Misaki welcomed the challenge and had swiped at her. Rika didn't give up, and with some reflex, evaded one of Misaki's swipes and touched her back. Rika now had one to Misaki's four.

"Rika looks better," Mashiro commented.

Misaki smiled as they engaged.

'I may not be strong enough right now, but,' Rika thought. 'I will do my best! No matter what!'

Rika with full determination got a second point by touching Misaki's back once more. Misaki easily countered and touched Rika's back many more times, bringing the match to an end.

"This ends it! Despite Ichinose's effort, Tobisawa was just too overwhelming to be beat!" Minori declared.

Rika bowed to Misaki, and flew down to Satou and Shindou.

"I, just couldn't win," Rika said, in a somewhat tearful voice as tears formed in her eyes, but she tried to smile.

"That doesn't matter," Shindou said gently, putting a hand to her shoulder. "You stayed in there till the very end and gave it your all. I'm proud of you."

"Same here," Satou said with a smile. "You showed some fine guts."

"Shindou, Satou," Rika said slowly.

"You did great, Rika!" Mashiro yelled out to her from the other booth, the others also smiling at her.

The others clapped for Rika, impressed with her performance despite losing fairly easily. Rika wiped away her tears and smiled.

"After a small break, the bowling Mashiro will face off against our lone challenger, Towa!" Minori declared.

The gang rested in a room for now. "Now we can have our rematch!" Mashiro declared at Towa with a friendly voice, to which he nodded.

"Now you're being called a bowling Mashiro," Misaki said with amusement. "Your size makes you a perfect ball fit."

"What was that!?" Mashiro asked in a comical spastic way as the others laughed.

"For once I don't like being called 'lone challenger'," Towa said, resting his head on his hand.

"Don't worry about it," Asuka said reassuringly.

"Right, it's just a made up title," Masaya told him, waving his hand in a fan motion to indicate it was nothing.

"Hmm, how do we do this?" Madoka asked with a finger near her cheek in thought. "Who stays in Towa's booth, but the others stay in our booth?"

Misaki looked at Asuka, Madoka following suite. "What?" Asuka asked.

"I think Asuka should stay in Towa's booth," Madoka grinned at her.

"Agreed," Misaki said in the same amused tone.

"But why me?" Asuka asked confused.

"Well, you're with Towa the most," Madoka said in an amused tone while Asuka's cheeks started warming up.

"W-what are you saying!?" Asuka stuttered.

"I mean exactly what I said," Madoka told her.

"And I'm sure Towa would like your support," Misaki said. "You two are inseparable."

As Asuka's cheeks got red, Towa's for the first time before the others got red.

"W-we get it already!" Towa stuttered flusteredly. 'Why am I getting this worked up?'

Misaki was quite entertained by this.

"Anyway, he has to still play without a coach," Aoi said, getting their attention. "With no coach, that puts you at a disadvantage against Mashiro you know. Masaya is coaching her, as is he with Kurashina and Tobisawa."

"Yeah, that's quite a situation for me to be in," Towa admitted. "But I've already decided. Once this tournament is over, I'm joining your team."

"Really?" Misaki asked in surprise, to which he nodded.

"Alright!" Asuka declared in excitement, hugging him.

Asuka wasn't looking at the others, who were very amused by the scene. Towa's face was going red while he froze. It took Asuka a few seconds to realize how long she was hugging him.

"S-sorry!" Asuka quickly said, turning away with red cheeks and smiling flusteredly.

Towa cleared his throat, hoping nobody would say anything. "In any case, even if I lose it doesn't matter," Towa said. "I want to keep playing with you guys."

"Towa," Misaki said, happy about that.

"So you've decided then?" Aoi asked him.

"Yes," Towa said politely. "But, just because I don't have a coach, it doesn't mean that the match will be easier for you."

"True," Masaya said agreeing. "But no matter the result, let's have fun."

"Mmm," Towa said, looking at Mashiro, who also nodded at him while smiling.

After a bit, the two took their stand at their booth in their FC clothes. Asuka and Madoka were with Towa, while the others were with Mashiro.

"This is it huh," Madoka said.

"Yeah, I haven't faced Mashiro since back then," Towa said, looking at Mashiro.

"No matter what, always smile," Asuka gently said to him.

Towa nodded at her. Madoka would usually tease, but she let this slide for the moment, as the two really seemed to care a lot for each other.

Meanwhile at the other booth, Masaya spoke.

"Ready? He's pretty strong," Masaya said, looking at him.

"He is, but I'll do my best out there," Mashiro said. "Besides I can't look bad in front of my boyfriend can I?"

"I'll be cheering you and Towa both on," Misaki said.

Aoi smiled at both groups. "Who do you think will win this?" Shindou's voice called out to Aoi as he stopped near the booth.

"Let's see, based on the two of them..." Aoi started with a finger to her chin in thought.

"It's time! The match between the bowling Mashiro and our lone challenger Towa is about to get underway!" Minori declared.

Towa and Mashiro flew and took their positions at the starting point. The people on ground cheered them both on.

"I'm grateful," Mashiro started.

"Huh?" Towa asked, confused.

"It's because of you and Masaya-senpai that I got this strong," Mashiro started. "If you hadn't shown up and motivated me to that level, maybe I wouldn't have trained as hard. And it's because Masaya was there for me that I didn't give up."

"Mashiro," Towa uttered. "I should be thanking you."

"Eh?" Mashiro asked, curious.

"All my experiance with you guys started from me wanting to help you out," Towa admitted. "From then on, I started wanting to be with you guys more as events unfolded. Eventually, I gained great friends-you guys."

Towa then looked at Asuka on the ground, who smiled back at him.

"Towa," Mashiro said, touched by that. "But we're opponents right now. Don't expect me to go easy on you just because we're friends. And don't hold back against me either!"

"Of course," Towa said.

Once the person hovering above them gave the signal, they took off.

"Now, Towa and Mashiro race towards the first buoy, but Mashiro seems to be falling behind!" Minori declared.

"Use a Sonic Boost to catch up!" Masaya ordered.

"Yes!" Mashiro replied back.

Spinning about to build speed, she then released it in a big boost, putting her very close to Towa. Towa went on the agressive quickly and swiped her away, which let him touch the buoy for a point.

Mashiro now abandoned chase and quickly got to the line leading to the second buoy. But Towa came up on her after touching the first buoy, and he looked resolved.

"Isn't he faster than when he faced you President?" Satou asked, looking at Shindou.

"When we fought, he was nervous until the very end," Shindou explained. "But even at the end, he still had self doubt. He was caught up on the fact that it seemed like I was too much for him-that can affect your playing. But he's not hesitating anymore, he's filled with complete resolve. Furthermore, he's not alone anymore."

"Do you think he would have done better against you if he hadn't been in doubt even at the end?" Satou asked.

"I think so," Shindou said. "But whether or not I would have won is a different story. There's no telling if he would have been the winner or me if he was at his best like this."

Misaki who was watching was happy to see him playing full force again in the tournament. She knew despite what Aoi said that Towa didn't do his best even at the end. Misaki fought him after all, so she knew how good he was.

Towa showed no signs of holding back and was about to engage her in a dogfight, but Mashiro then used a secret weapon not even Masaya knew she was going to do.

"Hey, do you like Asuka-senpai?" Mashiro asked with a grin.

"W-why are you bringing that up!?" Towa stuttered as his cheeks lit red.

Mashiro used that very second to touch his back, putting her at one to his one.

'Seriously!?' Masaya thought in exasperation at Mashiro. 'Geez.'

"I can't believe you would do that..." Towa said exasperated.

"Tehee, all is fair," Mashiro said as he sweat dropped.

"You..." Towa said, but shook it off to concentrate back on the match. "Okay, let's go again!"

"You got it!" Mashiro said with excitement.

The two clashed intensely this time. However, Towa was overwhelming her this time around. Swiping her off balance, he took the chance and scored by touching her back, putting the score two to her one. Mashiro then attempted her bowling ball, but Towa evaded. Mashiro then briefly uncurled herself, faced his direction and quickly did the move again. Towa calmed down, waited patiently for the right moment, and managed to touch Mashiro's back while she was in the spin, knocking her out of it, and earning him a third point.

"What a hit! Our lone challenger Towa has scored a point on Mashiro while in the ball spin!" Minori declared. "With this, she's been forced out of it!"

"No way, he scored on her while she was in that spin!?" Satou said in surprise.

"Her spin is strong, but it does have a weak point," Shindou pointed out with folded arms. "By spinning, there is a small chance of her back being touched, but you would have to time it right or touch it by random chance."

"So he managed to touch her in that state," Rika concluded as she watched.

"You remember in your match, Satou-kun, how with enough force you were able to knock her out of it?" Shindou asked. "Well even if you lightly touched her back despite her spinning speed, she would by default be forced out of it if scored on by contact."

"Satouin!" Satou yelled, then sighed.

"Are you okay?" Masaya asked Mashiro.

"Yeah," Mashiro said. "This is a lot of fun, fighting him!"

Towa panted due to that taking a lot of focus for him to do. But he subdued it. Reaching a switch on his Grav-Shoes, he spoke.

"Why don't we go full force now?" Towa asked her with a confident look.

"Just what I wanted!" Mashiro said with confidence herself, reaching for her balancers.

"Balancers, unlock!" they both yelled at once.

Once they unlocked, the two clashed again, but Towa had the upper hand by a good amount. Furthermore he wasn't letting up.

"Haaaa!" Towa yelled determined, and overpowered her in the dogfight, scoring a fourth point.

"It's just as you said," Shindou said looking at Aoi.

"I didn't say it was an absolute he would," Aoi said. "But I know he was doing sluggish against you. Seeing how he performed against Mashiro before, and his first round, I had a feeling he would."

"He beat me you know," Misaki pointed out to them with folded arms.

"Really?" Shindou asked, not knowing this.

"Someone who defeated me a few weeks ago, wouldn't lose to Mashiro," Misaki said. "She's come a long way, but at the moment I think this is where it ends for her."

"That seems to be the case," Aoi said, looking at the score, which was now six to two at this point.

"Towa's winning," Madoka said as she watched.

"Yes, but they both look like they're having a lot of fun," Asuka said looking at the two.

Actually, Towa struggled to hit her at points because of how evasively quick she was. Not only did Mashiro get much better at dogfighting, but she was so quick. The problem wasn't the dogfighting which he had a clear edge, but her evasiviness. In terms of raw speed, he was faster, but in evasiveness she was significantly faster than he was. Mashiro just evaded an attempt to touch her back, and touched his. By now Towa had seven while Mashiro had four, but neither player was frustrated.

"You've gotten really strong," Towa complimented her. "Your reflexes are really something."

"Right," Mashiro said proudly, having fun too. "But you're pretty strong yourself."

"I don't know if I'm strong or not, but I just want to do my best and stop doubting myself," Towa admitted. "And, I never want to abandon FC."

"Neither do I!" Mashiro said excitement as they both clashed again.

Both smiled as they kept on colliding over and over in the air. Despite the fact that Towa managed to touch her back again two more times with not much difficulty this time due to Mashiro getting tired, Mashiro wasn't upset. Furthermore she was able to hit his back one last time through the use of a very fast low yoyo, bringing her up to five points. However, he blocked the second one, which prevented her from getting another point. With the match now concluding, the end result was Towa had nine points while Mashiro had five.

"Winner, Towa! Our lone challenger has bounced away the bowling Mashiro!" Minori declared.

Mashiro looked at Towa, satisfied, and he did the same. Flying down to their booths, they were greeted by the others.

"You look satisfied," Masaya said.

"Yeah, I had a good match with no regrets," Mashiro said. "Man, I'm pooped."

"Then consider staying over at my house as a reward for doing so well," Masaya said, making Mashiro take on a cat expression, happy with that reward.

"She did better than I thought she was going to," Misaki said.

"Agreed," Shindou said, impressed.

"Mashiro," Rika said in a happy voice, proud of her.

"I guess some credit is in order for her," Satou said with an unimpressed tone.

"Hey now, we know you really want to say you thought she did good," Rika pointed out exasperatedly with a sweat drop.

At the other booth.

"That was a great match the two of you had," Asuka said to Towa.

"Yeah," Towa said, glad he got to have such a fun match with Mashiro.

"You should have lost, that way you could join our team faster," Madoka said.

"You're right, but I don't want to play bad on purpose," Towa said. "I love FC too much to do something like that. Giving it my best makes me happy."

"Towa," Asuka said, happy to hear that.

Madoka cut in as the two begun staring at each other with smiles. "So is this the part where you two kiss?" she asked in a tease.

Both Towa and Asuka's faces lit very red. "That's not it!" they both yelled at her, embarrassed.

At the other booth, Rika asked outside it.

"Now that I think about it, who is this Towa who seems to be with you guys?" Rika said, looking at him.

"He faced me before," Mashiro said.

"Before-wait! Is he the one who made you cry and almost quit!?" Rika asked in realization.

"What did you say!?" Satou asked, getting worked up at Towa.

"Hold it!" Misaki cut in. "It's not what you think."

So Misaki cleared up their misconception and told them what really happened.

"So you mean he just pretended to be mean in order to motivate and help you?" Rika asked.

"That's right," Mashiro said.

"It's good to see him friends with us," Masaya said. "On top of that, it seems like he and Asuka like being with each other."

"So you noticed too?" Misaki asked to which he nodded.

They looked at Towa and Asuka, who had red faces and yelling at Madoka who was laughing.

Asuka's next match now was about to begin.

A/N: Mashiro may have gotten a lot better here and mastered her balancers, but I think her beating people like Towa or Asuka is a bit much right now. I can believe her improving enough under Masaya's training to be able to beat Satou, but I think Mashiro would need more training still before she's on the level of someone like Asuka or Towa.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

"Haaaa!" Asuka yelled, in a current match with a girl opponent.

"Darn that girl!" Asuka's opponent yelled in frustration as Asuka hit her back.

"An easy match huh," Misaki presumed.

"Yeah," Aoi agreed, seeing the score terribly one-sided with Asuka's seven to her opponent's two.

"Though who will you face?" Madoka asked Towa.

"We'll find out after this match," Towa said. "Whoever wins in Asuka's match, is who I face next. Misaki is in a different section from Asuka and myself right now."

Masaya hadn't given Asuka any orders because there was no need to. Asuka was too above this person's level. And in a few more seconds, Asuka gained victory.

"Winner, Kurashina!" Minori declared loudly. "Now there are four fighters left, our lone challenger Towa, Ryuusei, Tobisawa, and our current champion, Kurashina! Up next Tobisawa will face Ryuusei in the first round of the semi-finals!"

Unfortunately, once they fought, the match was like Asuka's, poorly one-sided.

"With that, Tobisawa moves onto the final round!" Minori declared. "Now, up next our champion Kurashina will face off against our lone challenger, Towa! Despite playing by himself, Towa has proven himself a top contender! How will he fare against the champion!?"

"Who are you aiming for?" Masaya asked Misaki.

"Hmm, that's a really tough choice," Misaki said in thought. "On one hand I want to face Asuka this time, but on the other hand I want to face Towa again for a rematch."

"It's finally time!" Asuka said to Towa with enthusiasem.

"Yeah," Towa said with a smile. "I wish you a good match."

Masaya smiled at the two.

"This should be an interesting one," Shindou commented near Aoi.

"Agreed," Aoi said as she looked the two contestants. "Will he be able to keep full resolve with it being Kurashina as his opponent? She is the current champion, exactly as Minori stated."

"You don't need to worry about that," Misaki said, pointing to the two.

The two flew up to the starting point and stood their position.

"Towa, let's fly together," Asuka said, puzzling him.

"Together?" Towa asked, blinking with curiosity.

"Yes!" Asuka said with confidence. "I want to enjoy our match with all our heart!"

"Asuka," Towa muttered. "Same here, let's give it all we've got."

The two smiled at each other.

'Good luck, Asuka, Towa,' Misaki thought while watching.

So he went to his booth, with Madoka and Misaki going there and staying there for support until the match ends.

"It's time! The second semi-final match will start!" Minori declared. "Who will advance onto the final round and face Tobisawa for the championship!?"

Once the person above them signaled, they took off.

"Now, both our contestants are racing for the first buoy!" Minori declared. "But what's this, both are in even speed next to each other!"

After a few seconds, Asuka quickly flew downwards to try fooling him, but he followed her. As they started zigzagging about due to Asuka trying to change directions, Towa decided to try swiping her off balance, but he missed. While he kept chasing her, Asuka suddenly did an Air Kick Turn. Towa braced himself and tried to dodge, but he couldn't get completely out of the way, thus he was hit off balance.

"Haaa!" Asuka yelled, hitting him in the back.

"Kurashina has scored the first point!" Minori declared. "What is our lone challenger going to do in response!?"

Towa grunted and charged at her more agressively. Although he missed the initial hit, Asuka then missed hers, and Towa finally hit her off balance and then touched her back. The score was one to one. Towa then flew for the first buoy.

"Asuka, take a shortcut to the next buoy!" Masaya ordered.

"Yes!" Asuka responded and did exactly that.

In the meantime Towa scored a point on the buoy, thus he was at two to Asuka's one. Asuka waited near the next buoy. Just then, Towa narrowed his eyes and performed the Sonic Boost.

"That's..." Aoi started with some surprise to her voice.

"Stop him in anyway you can! Don't let him pass you!" Masaya ordered.

However, he was too quick at the moment for her and flew past her. She then quickly got back on his tail as he neared the buoy near her.

"When did he learn that?" Misaki asked.

"He probably has been trying to perfect it for quite a while," Masaya theorized. "I don't think he's the type to hold back on others unless he was trying to help them. I assume he didn't use it in his match with Mashiro because he still hadn't perfected it enough that he thought it would work at all. Being his opponent is the current champion, he must have felt he had to use everything he has this time, including a move that's a work in progress."

"A last minute try with the Sonic Boost huh," Aoi said. "But, can he do it again or was he gambling on it to work this once?"

Due to Asuka persisting on him, Towa then started flying in every direction over Asuka. Asuka looked around, confused at his movements.

"Stay calm!" Masaya said.

"But I don't know where he's-" Asuka started, but Towa flew in and hit her back.

Afterwards, Asuka and Towa clashed evenly, and Asuka managed to get his back, putting her two to his three. She then quickly hit him again two more times, but could not land the third one. Still, this put Asuka in the lead. The two then stopped while panting.

"You're really good," Towa said panting and sweating.

"You too," Asuka said panting as well.

"Those two have some fire in them," Satou commented, while Shindou chuckled.

"What do you think?" Shindou asked Aoi in reference to what Satou said.

"Yeah," Aoi said. "But, I have a feeling the true match is about to begin."

Everyone tensed, knowing what she meant. Misaki tensed up as well, knowing that it was about to get even more intense.

"Asuka, now!" Masaya ordered.

As she reached for her Grav-Shoes, Towa braced himself and did the same.

"Balancers, unlock!" both yelled, releasing them.

"So it comes down to this," Rika said, watching in anticipation.

"Now, what kind of performance are they going to show us?" Shindou asked himself.

"Asuka-senpai may have trouble this time," Mashiro said.

"Let's do it!" Towa yelled with seriousness on his face.

"Yes!" Asuka said with a confident smile.

"Haaaaa!" Towa yelled, charging at her with such speed.

He attempted a Sonic Boost, but unlike last time, he spiraled out of control.

"Darn it!" Towa yelled, and then Asuka came up and hit his back for another point, making it five to three.

"Uh oh! Towa trys a Sonic Boost, but it fails!" Minori declared. "Can he come back from this backfire!?"

"I see, he still hasn't perfected it," Aoi said. "He really did gamble last time, but this time it cost him."

"What's he going to do now?" Madoka asked.

Towa was frustrated that it failed, but he calmed down. Getting upset wasn't what he wanted. Looking at Asuka, he charged at her again. Just as she prepared to swipe, he slided under her, and with quick manuvering, turned around and touched her back, making him four to her five points.

"Look out!" Masaya warned again as Towa prepared to touch Asuka's back.

Asuka once more tried her Air Kick Turn, and then combined it with a few Sonic Boosts at once. Charging at him, he had no time to dodge this and took it head on. But as Asuka prepared to touch his back, he spun around and swiped her away. Touching her back, he brought the score even.

"Awesome, this is too close!" Rika said in awe.

"I'm getting pretty excited from this," Shindou said, getting hyped.

"Well I'm glad I'm not facing them," Satou admitted, recognizing they were stronger than her quite a bit.

Aoi smiled at the fact the two were clearly having fun despite the intensity.

"He's fighting on even ground with Asuka-senpai!" Mashiro said as she watched.

"This is quite the match, those two," Madoka stated.

"Right," Misaki said, enjoying this.

Back in the air, The two stopped for a moment to recover.

"Great, you're cool!" Asuka praised, making him blush.

"T-thank you!" Towa said, a bit flustered by the compliment. "I, I think you are too. And, I'm so glad that I met you."

Asuka smiled at him. "Hey, let's keep flying together," she said.

"Yeah," Towa said, nodding.

Both Asuka and Towa yelled as the two flew forward and then spiraled up together in synch, hitting one another over and over. Asuka lept up with a slight boost and made a triangle out of her Grav-Shoe's contrail it was leaving behind.

"There it is, Kurashina's Delta Force!" Minori stated in anticipation.

Towa remained calm as best he could. Realizing the fact that she was flying around in a triangle pattern, he waited and then dodged her attempt to touch him.

"Not good enough-!" Towa gasped as she dodged his touch.

Touching his back in time, the point rose six to five. Towa raced to the next buoy with Asuka on his tail. Towa then stopped in front of her, flew downwards and then tried to confuse her by not staying in one consistent direction. But Asuka kept up this time. Seeing that, he flew backwards straight at her, hitting her, and then using the chance to touch her back, once more evening up the score. Towa gambled, not knowing if this would work. Performing the Sonic Boost, he managed to actually stay in just enough control to collide with an Air Kick Turn from Asuka, sending both flying. He tried to Sonic Boost at her again, but he couldn't stay in control this time. However, he managed to evade Asuka's attempt to touch his back, but just barely. With every bit of strength, he poured it into one final swipe, sending Asuka flying towards the water.

"Is this it?" Madoka asked as she saw him nearing her back.

"This is the end!" Towa yelled with all his determination.

Just as he was going to touch her back, Asuka, with a last bit of strength, evaded, making him gasp in shock. As Asuka's hand came to his back, he no longer had enough energy to evade anymore.

"Haaaaa!" Asuka yelled, hitting his back and bringing the match to a close.

"That settles it! After an incredible match, Kurashina still remains our champion!" Minori declared.

The people that were watching the match via live TV roared in excitement and clapped.

"You were both amazing!" Mashiro praised.

"We'll have to get even stronger so they don't stay passed us," Satou noted.

"Yeah, you're right," Shindou admitted.

"Good match," Towa said, holding a hand out to her.

"Yes!" Asuka said happily, grabbing his hand.

After staring at each other for a few seconds, they both flew down, Asuka to her booth and Towa to his.

"You seem happy despite losing," Madoka teased.

Towa, though his cheeks were getting red, spoke. "I am, because I know I tried my best," Towa said. "I have no regrets."

Misaki smiled.

"You were like pow, and he was like-" Mashiro was dramatically describing her excitement at the match they had.

Asuka laughed nervously while Masaya sweat dropped while smiling. Just then, Madoka, Misaki and Towa came into their booth.

"Now, the moment we've been waiting for!" Minori declared. "Tobisawa who has made it all the way to the final, will face our champion Kurashina!"

Asuka and Misaki had a friendly rival staredown.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

At the moment, Asuka and Misaki had a few minutes before their match was to start.

"There's one problem," Masaya said, getting everyone's attention. "Who am I supposed to coach? If I coach one, the other won't have a coach."

"Leave Tobisawa to me," Shindou said, entering their booth and walking over to Masaya.

"Eh?" Misaki asked. "How can you coach me? We're not on the same team!"

"That's true," Aoi said. "But in a case where you have two team members facing each other, you are permitted to have one of the registered coaches coach one of you. It's an exception."

"Really?" Misaki asked. "Hmm, I guess I'm in your care then, Shindou-san."

"I won't waste it," Shindou said with a smile.

"Asuka, how do you feel about facing Misaki?" Masaya asked, looking at her.

"Excited, she's really strong!" Asuka said in positive voice.

Towa chuckled. "That she is," he said in agreement, having fought her a week ago.

"Misaki-senpai can be like a cat after her prey!" Mashiro proclaimed.

"Cat, huh, well I guess that makes you a play thing since you're a 'Mashiro bowling ball'," Misaki said nonchalantly.

"What did you say!?" Mashiro asked in annoyance.

"I guess Asuka would be like a red rose," Towa thought out, only to turn from everyone immediately after realizing he just let that out loud. "I didn't say anything!"

"Oh really, then what was that about Asuka being a 'red rose'?" Satou questioned with amusement, having heard him.

Towa didn't answer, but Asuka, who heard him blushed. Towa however, was saved by Minori's voice ringing in.

"Alright, it's the climax!" Minori started. "Tobisawa, who made it all the way to the final round will face our champion, Kurashina!"

"I'm off!" Asuka said with enthusiasm, flying up, Misaki flying up too.

Both landed at the starting point, taking their positions.

"It's the first time I get to face you for real in a tournament," Misaki said with confidence.

"I get goosebumps!" Asuka said, lightly smacking both sides of her cheeks with her hands. "Because we're getting to face each other here. But I won't lose!"

"Yeah, neither will I!" Misaki declared with confidence. "You know the drill by now, but I plan to go on the zipzap, so you'd best be ready!"

Back on ground, Masaya and Shindou put on their earphones.

"This is it," Madoka said.

"Yeah," Towa said, tensed. "I've never seen Asuka and Misaki face one another."

Towa looked at his hand, which begun to tremble.

"Asuka-senpai has never been able to beat Misaki-senpai," Mashiro said. "No matter how good she gets, Misaki has always been the winner against her."

"I see," Towa said looking at the two.

"Hinata-kun," Shindou started. "It's a shame you didn't enter, since I was hoping we would get to face each other."

"I'll be entering the next one," Masaya said. "I stayed out this time, because I wanted Mashiro to show how much she's grown."

"Did I pass?" Mashiro asked.

"Completely, you beat our vice President, that was impressive," Shindou praised her. "Hinata-kun, even though we can't face each other right now, consider us rival coaches at the moment."

Masaya nodded with a confident look.

Back in the air, Misaki and Asuka were ready.

"Now, can Tobisawa beat our champion, or will Kurashina still remain the current reigning champion!?" Minori declared.

A person hovering above them signaled them to start.

"Alright, the two race for the buoy, but what's this, our zipzapping Tobisawa goes aggressive right from the start!" Minori declared.

'That's just like her, feral combat instincts,' Shindou thought.

"Try to lose her!" Masaya ordered.

"Yes!" Asuka complied.

Asuka tried to move unpredictably, but Misaki flew with her like glue.

"Not good enough!" Misaki declared with confidence and swiped her off balance. "The first point is mine!"

Misaki, true to her word hit Asuka's back, earning a point. Now it was one to zero. As Misaki flew to the first buoy, Masaya's voice rang in.

"Quick, use the Sonic Boost!" Masaya ordered.

"Roger!" Asuka responded.

Using a few Sonic Boosts, she caught back up to Misaki.

"Tobisawa!" Shindou warned.

"I know!" Misaki replied, and tried to swipe Asuka, but Asuka faked her out and flew past her, touching the first buoy.

"Go ahead and take a short cut to the next buoy!" Shindou ordered with narrowed eyebrows.

"Yes!" Misaki said, doing as she was told.

As Misaki flew to the next buoy, Asuka flew away from the first buoy and towards it. Nearing Misaki, Asuka did her Air Kick Turn, but Misaki swiped her away.

"That won't work!" Misaki declared, and touched her back, taking the lead. "And I'm not finished!"

Misaki touched her back two more times in succession, making it four to one. But Asuka charged and managed to knock her off balance. Touching her back two times, Asuka brought the score four to three. For a while after this, they had some Misaki zipzapping swipe clashes. Finally, they stopped to take a brief break.

"As expected of Misaki," Towa said. "She's one tough customer."

"Yeah," Madoka said in agreement.

"She's got plenty of spirit!" Madoka's brother stated, suddenly next to Madoka with folded arms.

Madoka sighed. She would say he's not allowed in the booth, but seeing they had no issue with Towa being in it, she let her brother stay without complaint this time around. Besides it was the last round, even she couldn't take that away from him regardless if he should be studying.

Rika watched in determination, knowing she had a lot of training to do in order to catch up to Mashiro alone.

"But the real thing is going to begin!" Satou said with full focus on the match.

"That is correct," Irina's voice rang out as she stood near their booth.

"You," Aoi said, facing her.

Irina gave her a friendly smile and nodded shortly before looking up with Saki.

"Misaki-chan," Asuka said in excitement although she was panting.

"This is exciting!" Misaki said, hyped up. "But, no more restrains, right Asuka?"

"Yeah!" Asuka said.

Asuka and Misaki both reached for their balancers following Shindou and Masaya approving it.

"Balancers, unlock!" both yelled.

"Here it is!" Minori declared. "With the balancers off, who will prevail in this match!? The zipzapping Tobisawa, or our champion Kurashina!?"

"Go the both of you!" Mashiro cheered.

Asuka and Misaki had intense collisions, but Misaki seemed to have the edge. Although Asuka was able to touch her back again at one point, Misaki gained the edge and scored two more points on her back. Now it was four to six.

"This is FC," Irina said with a smile. "Bringing joy to others."

Towa smiled as his eyes glazed. He wanted FC to continue on forever.

"Kurashina," Saki muttered in a happy voice.

As they flew fast in a zigzag motion together, Misaki touched her back again, bringing the score seven to four. In response, Asuka quickly hit her a few times to get her greatly off balance. She then flew above Misaki.

"I'm going to pour everything I have in this!" Asuka said in a serious voice, flying downwards in a spiral motion. "Ultimate, yo yo!"

In an enormous speed, she landed a direct hit to Misaki's back, putting her at five to Misaki's seven. Following that, Asuka kept up the pressure and was able to get herself another point, bringing her up to six.

"The champion refuses to yield!" Minori said with hype. "She's being clear that she will not let Tobisawa stay in the lead!"

Misaki got more determined, and combined an Air Kick Turn with the usage of a Cobra. With enough speed, she hit Asuka's back and rose up to an eight, but Asuka countered by flying to and touching the next buoy, putting herself again only one point under her opponent. Once Misaki caught up to her, Asuka faked her out and scored another point.

"Tobisawa comes back from that with an instant counter-attack, but Kurashina again gets back for a tie!" Minori yelled in excitement. "...Uh oh, we have entered past the time limit! Our contestants each have the same points, as such we will have an extra extending of the match after ten minutes have passed!"

Asuka and Misaki panted, very much exhausted. Landing down near the water outside the booth, they sat down, each with a towel on them.

"...Kurashina," Saki muttered with a little worry to her tone.

"You don't need to worry Saki," Irina reassured. "You've played against her before. She's strong, and I'm sure she'll be fine, just like last time."

"You're right," Saki said, both still out of their booth.

Asuka and Misaki layed down on the ground next to each other.

"I remember when you first got into FC, you couldn't even fly straight," Misaki said with amusement. "But now look at you. You're the current champion and have become such a great player."

"It's you who made me this strong," Asuka stated while Misaki looked at her curiously. "You were the one who introduced me to the world of FC. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be at the stage I am now. And now we're the two finalists."

"'The answer lies up in the sky' is what you said before," Misaki told her. "I thought it sounded silly at first, but now I think I understand what you mean. Sometimes you have to stop thinking so hard and just press forward-that's so like you."

"Ahehe," Asuka laughed.

"Hey, thanks for meeting me," Misaki said gently.

"Huh?" Asuka asked, looking at her.

"I told you before, but I only started playing FC again on a whim because I found you interesting," Misaki started. "I hadn't even planned to join the club, but you were so excited about the idea of me joining that I felt like I had to. Even back then, I thought you were amazing. You were a total beginner who hadn't even played a match, yet you scored against Satou with an Air Kick Turn. That was quite a shock to me I tell ya. We kept getting better and better, and in time you became champion. And now, Mashiro progressed and took us all by storm in this tournament. I've, never seen her so great before."

"'Mashiro bowling ball', her own original move she created herself," Asuka said with a smile on her lips, looking at the sky. "I'm envious of her. Unlike us, Mashiro-chan made something original, while we just modified an existing move."

"Yeah, much as I hate to admit it," Misaki said. "I remember how hard she trained and pushed herself well beyond her limits to get better. I'm happy for her. Her efforts payed off nicely, with her also learning how to use her balancers unlocked, surprising us all in that match against Satou. Even we didn't know she learned to do that."

The two were muttering somewhat quietly, so the others didn't exactly hear everything. Furthermore they weren't extremely exhausted like Asuka was in the last tournament, so they didn't have everyone crowded around them.

"Do you still think Misaki will defeat Asuka?" Towa asked Mashiro.

"Even I don't know at this point," Mashiro admitted.

"That's what I was thinking," Towa said. "With the way this has been, it's anyone's guess."

"I had no idea Tobisawa had become so good she was on par with Kurashina," Shindou said.

"After losing to Saki in the last tournament, she trained extra hard," Masaya told him. "She wanted to face Asuka for real in a tournament, but losing to Saki gave her a whole new level of determination to improve herself."

"I see," Shindou said, looking at Misaki now.

"Now we move on to the last stretch!" Minori declared after the ten minutes passed.

After getting up to the starting point, the person above them gave the signal for them to take off. Both girls yelled with extreme determination, and flew at equal speed to the next buoy. What happened next shocked everybody.

"Unbelievable! Tobisawa and Kurashina both touched the buoy at the same time!" Minori yelled in amazement.

"Wow!" Madoka exclaimed while her brother had tears of excitement.

"Not bad I must say," Satou said with a satisfied look.

Finally, both Asuka and Misaki gained a full serious look, and started colliding intensely while flying upwards in the sky at insane speed.

"Stay on her!" Shindou ordered.

"I know!" Misaki said, having a fun expression.

"Don't let her fool you into a trap!" Masaya ordered.

"Yes!" Asuka said in a happy voice.

In response to Misaki's persistence, they kept flying up. After a very intense break off from the two, they immediately charged at each other with a swipe. Both dodged each other's moves, and then charged one another with an Air Kick Turn. The collision sent both flying back, but they recovered and kept colliding in rapid succession. Finally after some time, they flew in a similar way to Asuka and Saki's final match of the previous tournament, and made a circle out of their contrails.

"That's..." Masaya started.

"Just like back then!" Towa finished in shock.

However, unlike last time, Asuka was suddenly knocked out of it. Before she could move, Misaki charged out full force and managed to hit her back, gaining the lead. Asuka used a Hyper Scissors, which was just enough to knock Misaki off balance and score a point. From this point on, they kept having crazy intense collisions while flying about everywhere. Finally, an announcement was made.

"F-for the second time we have now went into sudden death-whoever scores the next point will be declared the winner!" Minori yelled out.

"Go!" Towa, Madoka and Mashiro yelled in excitement.

"Spirit!" Madoka's brother yelled.

Masaya and Shindou had hyped expressions, both really into this. Rika, Satou, Irina and Saki watched in amazement while Aoi had a content look.

At long last, Asuka was in reach of Misaki's back, but at the final moment, Misaki performed the Blaster Roll, and ended the match by hitting Asuka's back.

"T-that settles it!" Minori declared amazement. "The winner, is Tobisawa! Tobisawa has defeated our champion and now reigns the current FC champion!"

Asuka panted, but she was happy.

"Good job, Asuka," Misaki praised her.

"Thank you!" Asuka said cheerfully, shaking her hand.

After the two flew down, Shindou grinned at Misaki. "Don't let this go to your head," he told her.

"Huh?" Misaki asked in annoyance. "What are you on about!?"

"Because I want to fight you next time," Shindou stated with a serious friendly expression.

Misaki was caught off guard by the acknowledgement, but smiled.

"Then I'll be sure to stay champion until then!" Misaki spoke with confidence.

"Good," Shindou said.

"How do you feel?" Towa asked Asuka.

"Happy," Asuka said.

Towa smiled at her, to which she smiled back.

"How touching," Madoka teased the two, making them blush.

"What's that, are you two flirting again?" Mashiro asked in an amused voice while grinning very much at them.

"Wrong!" they both yelled at her with red faces.

Masaya kept quiet, but he was amused by the bunch as a whole. Some of these people could be odd at times, but that's just how it was.

"Well you can have him, Masaya-senpai is my lover after all," Mashiro said in a seductive voice, putting one hand to Masaya's shoulder while the other on his chest.

Asuka and Towa were steaming by this point at the first part.

Masaya's cheeks went red. "Yeah," he said, looking at Mashiro.

"Oh, you two are together?" Satou asked, not knowing that.

"Is that true?" Rika asked, curious.

The two nodded to confirm it. "That's great, Mashiro!" Rika said, putting her own hands together.

"Huh, to think he actually chose that bowling ball," Satou played it off.

"What was that!?" Mashiro asked, feeling a vein pop. "You're just jealous because you don't have a boyfriend!"

"Why you!" Satou said, also getting irritated.

The two growled at one another while their foreheads clashed against each other. The others sweat dropped, and Rika laughed nervously.

With the tournament over, the gang left. Irina and Saki then parted way from the group after saying goodbye. Before the Takafuji group followed suite, Satou had something to say.

"Keep getting stronger!" Satou declared, pointing at her before walking away. "So that you stay my worthy rival!"

Mashiro was speechless that Satou said that of her, but smiled. "You bet!" she said with confidence as Satou walked away.

Shindou then walked up to Mashiro. "It's a shame we didn't get to face each other," he told her with interest.

Mashiro was taken by surprise that Shindou said that.

"But maybe I can get my wish in the next tournament," Shindou said before walking off. "Later."

"Having been acknowledged by someone as good as him, you can't afford to let up, right?" Masaya asked her.

"Mmm, because I want to get stronger!" Mashiro positively said. "No-I will keep getting stronger!"

Masaya smiled at her.

As they walked away from the tournament, they chatted.

"So what now?" Towa asked them. "How do I join your team?"

Before Aoi spoke up, Madoka and Mashiro muttered together and grinned.

"You need an initiation!" Madoka declared.

"An initiation?" Towa asked, confused.

"Correct," Mashiro said. "That is, you must eat a tire!"

Towa's jaw totally dropped as he sweated with an eyeless expression. "...Eh?" Towa muttered while blinking, at a loss for words, but then regained his senses. "H-hold it! Are you nuts!? Who eats a tire for an initiation!?"

"They don't," Misaki said, giving the two girls a look of annoyance for trying to trick him in such a stupid way. "Really you two..."

"Follow me," Aoi said to Towa, getting the subject back on proper focus.

He and the others did so. Arriving at the trailer, Aoi took out a note and pencil and gave it to Towa.

"This is..." Towa said.

"By signing that with your name, you can be part of our team," Aoi said.

So Towa signed it with his signature.

"Yes, done," Towa said.

"That settles it then, from here on you're part of the group," Aoi said.

Towa smiled, only before Asuka hugged him again. "That's great!" Asuka said in a really happy voice.

Although flustered, he mustered up enough courage to hug her back. The others didn't try to tease him, rather they smiled at the heart warming sight. They were glad he was on the team now.

Later, Mashiro and Masaya went to Masaya's home.

"Somehow it doesn't surprise me Misaki-senpai won," Mashiro said as they stared out at the stars from Masaya's window. "Asuka-senpai has never beat her once like I said."

Masaya chuckled. "It is odd how Asuka beats others that Misaki can't, but Misaki always defeats Asuka," he noted.

"Misaki-senpai must rig Asuka in some way to lose," Mashiro joked as the two laughed. "A lot happened since wanting you to help me master the balancers."

"Yeah," Masaya said gently as the wind blew their hair.

"There was ups and downs, as well as a time when I just wanted to give up...but I didn't because you were there, and I gained something really important," Mashiro said. "You. Not just as a great friend either, but as a lover."

Mashiro rested her head near his shoulder. "Same here," Masaya admitted gently. "I thought you liked Misaki from the way you acted around her back then before we started hanging out more."

"Wrong," Mashiro cleared up. "I only admired her a lot, but I never had any sort of feelings for her. Do you mean to say at some points before we got together you were jealous?"

Masaya's cheeks got red. "Y-yeah," he admitted.

"Then let me prove it, that I don't feel that way about anybody else but you," Mashiro said, closing her eyes and readying her lips.

Masaya smiled and pressed his lips onto hers while closing his eyes.

Meanwhile next door, Rika entered her room, and opened her curtain. The sight made Rika's face start to turn red.

"W-what!? What's going on!?" Rika asked to herself. "And she's over at his house. Could it be they're about to do lewd things!?"

Once Mashiro and Masaya parted, he held her close to him by her waist as the two stared at the stars together. However, reality kicked in upon seeing Rika looking at them with a flustered expression while her eyebrows twitched.

"I-Ichinose!" Masaya stuttered out in a panic voice.

"M-Masaya you mustn't, um," Rika tried to say. "Y-you two can't do that yet, beyond kissing!"

"Hey hey, you're wrong!" Mashiro yelled with a complete red face.

"Exactly!" Masaya said with an embarrassed expression himself.

"But I can't exactly get in your way so-" Rika started before the two stopped her dead in her tracks.

"LIKE WE SAID!" they both yelled in the most flustered tone that echoed in the air.

The next day, everyone left together to school, Towa included after running into them. As expected, he stuck close to Asuka, and she with him.

"Get used to being popular," Masaya told Misaki. "Cause you're the big shot at our school now."

Everyone sweat dropped at Misaki's fantasizing of being praised and complimented on her skills and looks.

"Somehow I have a feeling this is going to her head," Mashiro sighed.

Asuka looked at Misaki. "But Misaki-chan really is cool," she said gently.

"She is," Towa agreed.

"Since you joined our team yesterday, I'm going to have to coach you for a bit," Masaya said. "I haven't coached you before, so we need to have you get used to it."

"Alright," Towa said, understanding.

"And then after that, you and Asuka-senpai can spend even more time together," Mashiro grinned.

Asuka and Towa blushed, as they looked away shyly. Misaki gave a quick grin at the two before looking ahead on the way to school.

"By the way, why do the two of you seem kinda off today?" Towa asked.

"What do you mean?" Mashiro asked.

"Well, your voices so far have come across as though something happened," Towa told them. "I don't know what it could be, but did something happen yesterday?"

Masaya and Mashiro's faces went red as they made clear flustered noises. They said nothing at all, afraid they may allude to it in some way, and pretended they heard nothing.

"What was that?" Misaki asked.

"I have no idea," Asuka said, curious about them.

"Hmm, I assume it has to do with their love life," Towa mused. "They're not very good at hiding their emotions, are they?"

"Oh, and what about you and Asuka?" Misaki questioned in a teasing voice.

"MISAKI!" both yelled at her in an equally loud voice as Masaya and Mashiro did last night.

After that outburst, they went quiet. Finally, Towa mustered enough courage to look at Asuka, who in turn looked at him with red cheeks. He gently grabbed her hand, to her surprise.

"...You don't mind if I hold your hand for now, do you?" Towa was able to ask.

"N-not at all!" Asuka stated in a flustered voice.

For a moment, he avoided her gaze, and after circling his cheek with his free hand, looked at her and slightly strengthened his grip on her hand. Giving her a smile as his cheeks remained red like hers, Asuka returned that smile, slightly strengthening her own grip in his hand too.

From here on, things returned to normal, except they now had a new member on the team. Right now, he was at the practice area, getting ready to practice with Mashiro. Masaya prepared to coach Towa, while Mashiro had Misaki coach her temporarely as a result.

"Ready?" Towa asked her.

"Mmm," Mashiro said. "Just you wait, one day I'm going to surpass you!"

Towa chuckled. "I want to go beyond my current limits and strive to improve myself just like you!" he said in the same friendly confident voice as she did. "But if you say you're going to surpass me, I look forward to the day you do! But don't think I'm going to just wait for you to catch up either!"

The two exchanged a friendly rival grin. Mashiro then exchanged a glance at Masaya. With him at her side, she would keep striving forward. Given the signal by Madoka's brother, they yelled "Let's do this!" before flying off.

THE END.

A/N: I find it odd how Asuka always does better against the people Misaki doesn't on the show, and even beat some of them, but Misaki always defeats Asuka regardless of how good she gets. It's kind of contradicting that she can beat Asuka each time, but always does worse against the people Asuka does so well against. Her beating Asuka in episode 9 was ridiculous, because at that time Asuka was still the better player than her, yet Misaki was owning her which shouldn't have been the case. It's like the writers didn't pay attention to their characters skill levels at the time. I wanted to give Misaki the champion title this time, because Asuka, Shindou and Saki all had it once, and I think it's only fair that Misaki gets it this time given how hard she tries in the show. I haven't yet decided if I'll do a sequel to this story, but we'll see.


End file.
